LiamClink

4/3/2013
4thHour
HowPoliticalAttitudesandVotingPatternsAreAffected
Familyaffectspoliticalattitudeinthesensethatchildrengenerallymaketheirearliest
politicaldecisionsathome.Theyarealsousuallyguidedbytheirparentshowever,some
childrenarerebellious,andtheytendtovoteagainstwhattheirparentsidealsaretomake
apoint.Educationaffectspoliticalattitudeinthesensethatwhensomeoneismore
educated,theyaregenerallyinahigherincomebracket,causingthemtobeconservative,
becausetheywishtokeepwhattheyworkedforhowever,(andthismakeseducation
interesting),beingmoreeducatedmeanssomeliberalinfluence,becausetheyrealisethat
thingslikeroads,water,forests,atmosphere,etc.needtoberegulatedsothattheyarent
trashed,orsothattheyevenexistinthefirstplace.Media,actingasthefourthbranchof
government,keepsthepeopleinformedaboutthings.Evenso,theystillarebusinesses,
and,increasinglyasoflate,theyareactingintheirowninterestbytellingpeoplewhatthey
wanttohear,ortellingthemthingsthatmightleadthemtopasslegislationthatwouldhelp
themout,givethembreaks,or,tokeeppeoplewatching,theymaymaketheirshow
infotainment,becauseAmericansthesedaysarentasinterestedinrealnewsastheyused
tobe.Regionaffectspoliticalattitudeformultiplereasons,oneofthembeinghistory.
Californiahasbeenliberalforalongtime,andtheywillprobablystaythatway,andpeople
whoareraisedtherearemorelikelytobecomeliberal.Anotherreasonisthatpeoplewill
beinfluencedbytheirregionsinterests,forexample,peopleinMichiganaremore

environmentallyconsciousbecauseofthefactthattheyaresittingonthemostvaluable
sourceoffreshwaterontheworld.Raceorethnicityaffectsvotingpatterns,becausethe
peoplebelongingtoaracewouldwanttovoteintheinterestoftheirrace.Forexample,
blacksusuallyvotedemocratically,becausethedemocratswerethepartythatsupported
themafterLincoln,whentherepublicanssupportedthem.Ageaffectsvote,because
youngerpeopletendtowanttofixthings,andvoteliberally,andolderpeopletendtovote
conservatively,becausetheyeitherwanttomaintainthewealththattheyvebuiltup,orthey
dontwantthingstochangeasmuch.Gendercanaffectvotingpatterns,inthesensethat
womentendtovoteliberally,becausetheywanttochangethingsforthebettermentofthe
peopleofthecountry,andexamplebeingtakingcareofthedebtinsteadofwagingwar,
whereasamanwouldtendtosupportthewar,becausetheycaremoreabout,well,fighting
andwinning.Finally,religionwouldaffectvotingpatterns,inthesensethat,whenareligion
ismoreconservative,itsproponentstendtovoteliberally,also,becausetheywanttofix
thingsandhelppeople,butliberalreligionstendtovoteconservativelybecausetheydont
wantthingstochangesomuch.