The following is an investigative work done for my Investigative Methods of Political Science subject on my Political Sciences career, dated 23rd of October, 2019.
The original one was in spanish, so, keep that in mind if you find some typo.
The chosen subject for this investigation consists in the influence of age within one person's ideology. At first, the first idea that comes into mind, the principal hypothesis would be in a positive influence: The older, the more conservative the ideology is. And, for that matter, the majoritary vote of the elderly is the vote for conservative ideologies.
On a first source we find that "left-winged ideas have greater weight in the lower age groups, compared to those right-winged, whom have weight on the older age groups" (Lledó, Nieto, Lloret Irles, & Aldeguer Cerdá, 2010), linking the idea of age with the political reference of each person, considering the age as a dividing factor. The same authors define their article as "An aproximation to the study of party identification and political ideology through age", which with that idea in mind and the fact showed before, enforce the idea of the original hypothesis, in which, within the elderly the weight of the conservative ideas is greater, and that, on the contrary, more progressive and left-winged ideas have more weight on a more young group.
However, the article "The politics of American generations: How age affects attitudes and voting behavior", a study authored by Drew Desilver about ideologies and voting patterns of the people divided by age groups, shows that the ideology with more weight within the elderly are basic liberal ideas, or "Faith and Family Left", of a left-wing matter. But that doesn't mean that the biggest cummulation of conservatory ideology isn't in the elderly group. The most weight of the conservative vote is within the people +50 years old, reinforcing the original idea, but with a new shade: While the right-winged and conservative vote is mostly found within the elderly, this is not the majority of the group's ideology.
Within Spain's Center of Sociologic Investigations (CIS) we find as recurring question the person's autodefinition of political ideology. From the results, we shall assume as conservative: Conservative, Democrat-Cristian, Nationalist.
From the 65 yeas, we find this group to be within the 31.6% of the interviewed, this being the biggest porcentual vote of the conservative ideology. It's with this that we go back to the idea we got from Drew Desilver's study: The conservative vote has the biggest weight within the elderly, but it isn't the majoritary vote.
Within Lorente Fontaneda's doctoral thesis we find the following: The youth set themselves more to the left than adults, with a few exceptions, within most of the countries annalized, and as the age grows, the tendency to a conservative ideology grows as well.
In the book "Partisan Hearts and Minds: Political Parties and the Social Identities of Voters", the authors compare the ideological differences between the conservatives themselves, understanding that, within the south of the United States of America, there's a huge vote pool for conservatives from the elderly, being the majoritary portion that feeds the Republican Party in the southern states, but that this isn't the majority of the vote, remarking the great weight of renovation of leaders and image with younger people.
With all of this in mind:
The hypothesis put to annalisys are correct, but ony partially, since the first one is correct, the age affects the self political view in a direct matter, and the older, the more conservative the ideology tends to be. However, the second one is false, since the majoritary views are still left centered, and the voting results prove that, while the biggest percentage is from the elderly, the majority vote for the elderly is center - left winged.
The original one was in spanish, so, keep that in mind if you find some typo.
Age and Ideology.
Comparative analysis on how age influences the ideology of people.
By Pedro Ramón Vivanco Mata.
23rd October 2019.
University of Burgos.
Comparative analysis on how age influences the ideology of people.
By Pedro Ramón Vivanco Mata.
23rd October 2019.
University of Burgos.
The chosen subject for this investigation consists in the influence of age within one person's ideology. At first, the first idea that comes into mind, the principal hypothesis would be in a positive influence: The older, the more conservative the ideology is. And, for that matter, the majoritary vote of the elderly is the vote for conservative ideologies.
On a first source we find that "left-winged ideas have greater weight in the lower age groups, compared to those right-winged, whom have weight on the older age groups" (Lledó, Nieto, Lloret Irles, & Aldeguer Cerdá, 2010), linking the idea of age with the political reference of each person, considering the age as a dividing factor. The same authors define their article as "An aproximation to the study of party identification and political ideology through age", which with that idea in mind and the fact showed before, enforce the idea of the original hypothesis, in which, within the elderly the weight of the conservative ideas is greater, and that, on the contrary, more progressive and left-winged ideas have more weight on a more young group.
However, the article "The politics of American generations: How age affects attitudes and voting behavior", a study authored by Drew Desilver about ideologies and voting patterns of the people divided by age groups, shows that the ideology with more weight within the elderly are basic liberal ideas, or "Faith and Family Left", of a left-wing matter. But that doesn't mean that the biggest cummulation of conservatory ideology isn't in the elderly group. The most weight of the conservative vote is within the people +50 years old, reinforcing the original idea, but with a new shade: While the right-winged and conservative vote is mostly found within the elderly, this is not the majority of the group's ideology.
Within Spain's Center of Sociologic Investigations (CIS) we find as recurring question the person's autodefinition of political ideology. From the results, we shall assume as conservative: Conservative, Democrat-Cristian, Nationalist.
From the 65 yeas, we find this group to be within the 31.6% of the interviewed, this being the biggest porcentual vote of the conservative ideology. It's with this that we go back to the idea we got from Drew Desilver's study: The conservative vote has the biggest weight within the elderly, but it isn't the majoritary vote.
Within Lorente Fontaneda's doctoral thesis we find the following: The youth set themselves more to the left than adults, with a few exceptions, within most of the countries annalized, and as the age grows, the tendency to a conservative ideology grows as well.
In the book "Partisan Hearts and Minds: Political Parties and the Social Identities of Voters", the authors compare the ideological differences between the conservatives themselves, understanding that, within the south of the United States of America, there's a huge vote pool for conservatives from the elderly, being the majoritary portion that feeds the Republican Party in the southern states, but that this isn't the majority of the vote, remarking the great weight of renovation of leaders and image with younger people.
With all of this in mind:
The hypothesis put to annalisys are correct, but ony partially, since the first one is correct, the age affects the self political view in a direct matter, and the older, the more conservative the ideology tends to be. However, the second one is false, since the majoritary views are still left centered, and the voting results prove that, while the biggest percentage is from the elderly, the majority vote for the elderly is center - left winged.
- Center of Sociologic Investigations (CIS). (June 2019). Barometer of June 2019.
- Desilver, D. (9th July 2014). FacTank; News in the numbers. Taken the 23rd October 2019, from Pew Research Center's website: https://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2014/07/09/the-politics-of-american-generations-how-age-affects-attitudes-andvoting-behavior/
- Green, D., Palqmquist, B., & Schickler, E. (2002). Partisan Hearts and Minds: Political Parties and the Social Identities of Voters. Yale University.
- Lledó, A. Nieto, M. Lloret Irles, D. & Aldeguer Cerdá, B. (2010). "UNA APROXIMACIÓN AL ESTUDIO DE LA IDENTIFICACIÓN PARTIDISATA E IDEOLOGÍA POLÍTICA A TRAVÉS DE LA EDAD" Psicología Política, 43-60.
- Lorente Fontaneda, J. (January 2017). "La ideología política de los jóvenes en Europa. Cambios generacionales y pautas de voto (1981-2010). Autonomic University of Madrid (UAM)
