On the origins of political interest

This dissertation offers the first comprehensive study of the early life origins of adults' interest in politics, an intrinsic motivation that has been shown to generate many valuable democratic outcomes, such as political attention, knowledge, and participation. Drawing on the key theories of political development and using a variety of survey data, but primarily two unique panels which followed the same individuals for more than 30 years, I examine several potential influences: salient political events, the immediate social and cognitive environment created by the family, school, peer group, and extracurricular activities, and the child's own characteristics, including personality traits and cognitive abilities. I argue that individuals' interest in politics depends on them feeling at ease with politics and that the experiences one is exposed to and the resources one accumulates early in life shape this comfort level. In particular, I demonstrate the ways in which children from an advantaged background are better positioned to become politically involved, in large part because of a class-based parenting style which strengthens the child's linguistic skills, exposes her to highbrow culture, ensures her enrollment in organized activities, and bolsters her sense of personal efficacy. Yet I also identify several viable routes for narrowing inequalities in political interest, since cognitive and cultural resources, youth activities, enjoyment of social studies, and peers' political discussion, all seem to benefit especially the disadvantaged. Hence, the dissertation shows the great utility of Bourideu's cultural capital theory in explaining the origins of political interest, an approach new to political development research, while underscoring the tension between class reproduction and class mobility. In addition, the results deflate several of the common understandings in the fields of political socialization and public opinion more generally: I find that the effect of educational attainment is smaller than previously thought and should be primarily attributed to self-selection; that "formative events" do not seem to shape long-term interest in politics; that the Vietnam generation did not instigate the current decline in political involvement; and that although interest levels are lower among relatively recent cohorts, the drop is not historically unprecedented.