This question lends itself to four distinct sections and one additional paragraph with your opinion in it (aside from the intro and conclusion). It should probably look as follows:

I. Family

A. young people identify with parents' views

B. much continuity between youthful partisanship and adult partisanship

C. ability of family to influence has declined in recent years

D. views change from one generation to the next, so children may be more liberal or conservative on certain issues

E. clear political ideologies in people who grew up in politically involved families

II. Religion

A. 2 reasons as to why this affects political outlook

1. social status

2. religious tradition

B. differences in how people view the Bible are not significant on economic issues as opposed to social or foreign policy issues

III. Gender

A. gender gap

B. geneder gap disappears when there are no sex-sensitive policies that are being heavily debated

C. a key question: are female voters more likely to support female candidates?

IV. Education

A. college students more liberal than general public

B. longer students stay in college the more liberal they become

C. theories as to why college has this affect:

1. nothing to do with schooling; the traits of the individuals who attend college are destined to be liberal

2. college and postgraduate school expose people to more info about politics from ALL sources

3. college teaches liberalism

V. Your opinion

A. support your opinion based on the information in the paragraphs above Return to Home Page