The Political Environment and the Dynamics of Public Attitudes: A Panel Study

At the micro-level, political socialization research has emphasized the persistence of political orientations learned prior to adulthood. This emphasis has led to an implicitly conservative bias in macro-level theory-a preoccupation with the continuity of prevailing political values across generations. Results are presented here which address these two issues. These results are based on a two-wave panel study of young adults and their parents for the period 1965-1973. A high degree of persistence in partisan attachments and fairly stable political trust orientations are found for both cohorts. It is also shown, however, that reactions to the Vietnam War and race issues systematically affected political outlooks. Consistent with classical theories of generational succession, the potential impact of major issues upon political orientations appears greatest for young adults. Nevertheless, the evidence indicates that a capacity for life-long political learning exists, and historical occurrences may influence basic political attitudes throughout the life cycle.