Political affiliation is hereditary
Sep. 24th, 2004 12:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
onefixedstar(Via Pharyngula.)
There's a discussion of an interesting little exercise on Anomalous Data today. A teacher in Bush Country read out Kerry's and Bush's positions on a variety of issues without telling his eleven-year-old students which candidate held which position. As they went along, the kids kept track of which position they favoured. At the end, they voted for their preferred candidate. Twenty-six of the thirty kids votes for Kerry, and then booed their results once they realized that they had voted for the "wrong" candidate.
I think I need to go find out if this type of experiment has been replicated more formally among adults (as it probably has been). I'm kind of curious now whether adults would also favour the Democrats if they paid attention to the issues instead of who they feel most comfortable listening to, or whether the kids' vote is a product of a social conscience instilled by early teachers and not yet rationalized away. (Please note, I am not suggesting that it is impossible to be a conservative or even a Republican and have a social conscience. I've known principled, compassionate conservatives--but they're not the ones running the show right now.) Now admittedly, issues aren't everything. You also have to consider whether you think the candidate will actually do what he says, and whether he'll be able to effectively implement his positions. But voting for someone you completely disagree with is rarely the way to get what you want...
There's a discussion of an interesting little exercise on Anomalous Data today. A teacher in Bush Country read out Kerry's and Bush's positions on a variety of issues without telling his eleven-year-old students which candidate held which position. As they went along, the kids kept track of which position they favoured. At the end, they voted for their preferred candidate. Twenty-six of the thirty kids votes for Kerry, and then booed their results once they realized that they had voted for the "wrong" candidate.
I think I need to go find out if this type of experiment has been replicated more formally among adults (as it probably has been). I'm kind of curious now whether adults would also favour the Democrats if they paid attention to the issues instead of who they feel most comfortable listening to, or whether the kids' vote is a product of a social conscience instilled by early teachers and not yet rationalized away. (Please note, I am not suggesting that it is impossible to be a conservative or even a Republican and have a social conscience. I've known principled, compassionate conservatives--but they're not the ones running the show right now.) Now admittedly, issues aren't everything. You also have to consider whether you think the candidate will actually do what he says, and whether he'll be able to effectively implement his positions. But voting for someone you completely disagree with is rarely the way to get what you want...
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-24 12:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-24 12:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-26 05:46 pm (UTC)I remember being in my 1st or 2nd grade class during the Ford/Carter elections and asking the teachers who they voted for the day before. (Yes, I'm THAT old) One of the teachers said "Carter" and (almost)everybody booed. The other one said "Ford" and (almost)everybody cheered. I was cheering right along with everyone else.
As a 6/7 year-old the issues were not what was at stake in my own "voting" preference. I just felt like we shouldn't be voting against the guy who was president.
I think my original point was that kids don't have the same priorities or perspectives as adults do. But now I think my point is that most Americans vote like 7-year-olds ...