Our parents play a critical role in shaping our political perspectives and values. Politically active parents tend to raise children who become lifelong voters, while politically apathetic parents tend to have children who are disinterested in politics. Research has long shown that political beliefs and identity carry forward across generations—a process generally known as political socialization.
But the socialization process works imperfectly. Not every Republican parent has Republican children and vice versa. Family dynamics are complicated, and parents are hardly the only figures who influence their children’s political development.
