Growing into Politics: Contexts and Timing of Political Socialisation (ECPR Studies in European Politics)

Political socialization describes the processes through which individuals find their place within their political community and develop individual values and attitudes toward political objects and practice. Almost fifty years ago, Fred I. Greenstein posed this classic question of socialization research: "Who learns what from whom under what circumstances with what effects?"

This book offers up-to-date empirical research on this crucial question, which is far from being fully answered. It outlines new approaches and answers that contribute largely to two important discussions: the question of the (relative) importance of agents and contexts and, inextricably interwoven with the first question, the timing of political socialization. The volume's essays consider these issues from a European perspective, using new methodological approaches and incorporating long-neglected perspectives.