This essay is aimed to examine one of the agents of political socialisation for the way in which it operates and the effects it may have in Nigeria

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   This essay is aimed to examine one of the agents of political socialisation for the way in which it operates and the effects it may have in Nigeria. Political socialisation is learning process that begins very early and continues all throughout ones life. Through political socialisation people acquire their perceptions and feelings about their political environment. It accounts for both the commonalties and diversities of political life. (DP Dawson p1).  It is an approach to understanding both patterns of similarities and differences in political outlooks among the constituents a given system.

   On the other hand political socialisation helps one to understand the development and dissemination of consensus values or common outlooks. Political socialisation is also an approach to understand the differences in political perspective that exist among constituent. Political socialisation is a tool for understanding these intranation differences as well as for intranation similarities and intranation differences. In some instances the family may be the most important structure. . (Ibid9-11).

    Political socialisation begins early on in life and is an ongoing process affecting individuals throughout. It is how people eventually identify personal beliefs and expectations. These political views can include our level of patriotism, faith in democratic System, standards by which we hold governing bodies, and opinion regarding public policies from the classroom, the office, to the dinner table. Much of our life affects our political opinions. The most easily identified agents of this are family, schooling, peers, mass media, social parties and religious influences. Furthermore, this means indoctrinate us in the political society through four basic methods, talent, manifest affective and instrumental socialisation.

    Youth in all nations anchor their documents within a basic family frame history. The mode of mention differs in different cultures. But the unquestioned fact remains that the family is the primary social institution in all lands, and clearly in every culture universally. Political socialisation is the process by which individual acquire attitudes, beliefs, and value related to political system of which he is a member and to his own role as a citizen within that political system. (Edward S Greenberg, 1970 p3).

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   More recent analysis, however, has called into question much of the conventional wisdom on the impact of family on political learning. R.W Connell (1972) has raised several mythological question about the research on which this practice rested. Among other things, many studies misconstrued agreement across generational lines with agreement between parent and child. (Stanley A Renshon 1977 p46).

   When children and their parents are measured independently and agreements in political views are established, it supports the inference that family transmits politics to the children. Furthermore, the degree of such influence can be established, and by proper comparison these ...

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