Children and Politics

Children and Politics explores how young people develop political attitudes and behaviors through a pioneering study conducted in New Haven, Connecticut in the late 1950s. Greenstein examines children's understanding of political concepts, authority figures, and civic institutions through extensive interviews and surveys. The research follows students in grades 4-8 to document their emerging political consciousness and the factors that shape their views. Through a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, the book tracks how children's political socialization evolves across different ages and demographic groups. The work combines empirical social science with insights from developmental psychology and educational theory. Greenstein's findings challenge previous assumptions about when and how children begin to form political orientations. This foundational text established many key frameworks still used to understand youth political development and socialization. The book raises fundamental questions about the role of early experiences in shaping lifelong civic engagement and political participation.

This book appears to have minimal reader reviews available online. The few academic reviews from when it was published in 1965 note its value as an early study of children's political socialization, but contemporary reader reviews are scarce. What readers liked: - Clear research methodology - Documentation of how children form early political views - Data on parent-child political attitude transmission What readers disliked: - Dated research methods by current standards - Limited sample size focused only on New Haven, CT - Some found the writing style overly academic Available Ratings: Goodreads: No ratings Amazon: No ratings WorldCat: No user reviews Google Books: No user reviews Due to the book's age and academic nature, most discussion appears in scholarly citations rather than consumer reviews. The lack of public reviews makes it difficult to gauge broader reader reception.

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Making Citizens by Elizabeth Frazer This work examines civic education and the formation of political identity in young people across different educational systems.

The Political Life of Children by Robert Coles The text documents children's understanding of political power and social class through case studies in multiple countries.

Learning to be Political by Roberta S. Sigel This study analyzes the mechanisms through which children acquire political values and develop ideological orientations.

📚 Published in 1965, this groundbreaking work was one of the first major studies to examine how children develop political attitudes and understanding. 🎓 Fred I. Greenstein conducted his research by interviewing 659 children in New Haven, Connecticut, ages 9-13, creating a comprehensive look at childhood political socialization. 🗳️ The book revealed that children begin forming basic political opinions as early as age 7, challenging previous assumptions that political awareness didn't develop until adolescence. 👨‍🏫 Greenstein went on to become a distinguished professor at Princeton University and wrote several influential books about presidential leadership, including "The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader." 🔍 The study's methodology and findings influenced decades of subsequent research in political science and child development, establishing many of the core concepts still used to understand how children learn about politics and government.