Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Are Politics Genetic?

Semi-random thought, here... with all the talking about who votes what, I was wondering if we tend to vote like our parents. I'm trying to make this as general a poll as possible, so it doesn't matter which country you're in I hope

PJ

Interesting question, Pam! I used to vote the same way as my parents, which was understandable, I suppose, given that I was brought up in a household and atmosphere in which one of the main political parties in Ireland was regarded as a manifestation of the devil. I knew which party's candidates to shut the door on before I was eight.

So, yes, when I first had the vote and was still living with my parents I voted just as they did.

Then I moved out - well, moved to another country, in fact. And by then, as a young adult, I'd been exposed to other political views - as a student, by lecturers and other students. By the time I moved to the UK for work, I voted a very different way - not for the devil party, but for a party which was and still is a minority party in Ireland but for which I would never have imagined voting at the age of 18.

I think the same is true of my husband: having been brought up to believe that one of the UK's main parties was evil incarnate, he always voted the way his parents did, and continued to do so for some time after moving out. Now, he would never vote for that party. Disillusionment... or just forming his own views as he grew older?


Wendy

Alas, I did not register in time for this election, but in the past I voted who I thought was best for the job reguardless if they were Republican or Democratic. My parents, my father especially, always stood by whatever Republican was running for which ever office he/she was running for.

I wonder if it's too early to start chanting Clinton '08. <G>

I vote pretty much the way my parents do. We don't agree on everything, but poltically, we're pretty close.

I'm not sure if it's genetics, the influence they had in raising me, culture, coincidence, or what.

I think I came to my own views in my own way, but I won't deny that what my parents taught me influenced the development of those views. It's also possible that genetics did play a role. It's even possible that I'll change my mind as I continue to grow.

I do know that my views on things like religion (specifically, the value of it and the role it should play) differ a fair amount with my parents. So, it's not like I simply think the way they think, whatever the cause.

Okay, this is confused and rambling, but basically: Politically, I share my parents' views, but I'm not sure that that isn't at least partially coincidence.

Paul

I didn't vote. I find it hard to understand and keep track of any kind of long verbal communication at all. So, I usually give up without putting in the extra effort it needs. Even if I did follow the election, I wouldn't have remember any of it by the end of election, anyhow. So, why bother.

That's why I'm so talkative on these boards but if you've met me in person, our conversation can only consist of question with 'yes' and 'no'. And sometimes if your talking to me, if you don't call my name first, I wont respond. That's why most people don't want to get to know me because they think I'm rude. No true friends , except for the ones in my church.

My answer is similar to Annette's.

My parents vote straight party ticket. I voted (back when I could vote) for who I thought was best. To be honest, more often than not, I felt the best candidate was the one my parents happened to be voting for, but not always.

- Vicki

I voted for the first option, because I voted the way my father did in this election and the way both my parents did in 2000. I don't like to attribute that to my following his example so much as the fact that we have similar outlooks on life and politics. I came to my own decision about gay marriage, for instance, and was pleased to find out my father felt the same way (because I still like being "validated" <g>), but his opinion didn't have any effect on mine.

My father's girlfriend, however, violently disagrees with us on almost every issue. They've just agreed not to talk about certain things because they only argue. I fell into the trap of debating politics with her once, and when I made a particular point she just turned to my father and said angrily, "You've filled her head with propaganda! She's just a little you, she can't make decisions for herself."

Needless to say, I was incredibly insulted by that assessment. I'm a big girl now, I can make up my own mind! I feel I have very strong beliefs and I'm consistent about them. To imply I just blindly follow my father's example is a slap in the face.

So I get a little touchy when people suggest I'm only voting one way or the other because that's what my father did <g>. (Not that I think anyone here is trying to do that, I'm just venting on a sore subject )

Kaylle

My family has been active in Democratic politics ever since I can remember -- I distinctly remember the 1984 election -- Mondale and Reagan -- and Reagan was the devil in my family's eyes. From the age of 3 (almost 4), I knew who was right and who was wrong. I come from a family with a strong union alliance and strong Catholic beliefs and strong Democratic beliefs. I generally vote a Democratic party line because my personal beliefs line up with what the party stands for , and my parents vote Democrat as well for the same reasons. Actually, I am more liberal than John Kerry. My beliefs tend to line up more with our representative, Dennis Kucinich, who is a populist and a progressive. I vote against school levies not so my parents don't have to pay higher taxes, but because the Parma city school district screwed me out of being Valedictorian, and i will always hold a grudge . . . but that's another story.

- Laura

I chose "other".

If any of you pay attention to politics in Singapore, for reasons which escape me given how inconsequencial we are on the world stage, you'd know that the government returns to power even before Election Day because so many seats are uncontested, the incumbents have a walk-over victory. So though technically voting is compulsory in Singapore, the majority of us never ever get to exercise our right to vote. Some democracy huh? But I digress.

It so happens that my parents and I recently moved into an area which is contested every election. So my parents actually got to vote during the last general elections. I can guess who, or which political party they would have voted for, though. we never talk politics at home. We just don't, and it's not as we ever agreed to never discuss politics. *shrugs* I don't know why we don't talk politics, but there you go.

Going back to talking about my situation. Well, I just reached voting age, which means I'll have to vote in the next general election, if my constiuency is contested (which it probably will be). Will I vote like my parents? Very likely, though it's certainly not due to parental influence because I don't even know where they stand in the political spectrum. I'm voting like them because essentially, I have the Hobson's Choice. Opposition parties in Singapore are a joke most of the time, and only appear during elections (they disappear after election ends), like the party that contested against the ruling party during the last election. Opposition parties that I'd even consider voting for do not contest in my constiuency. Given that voting is compulsory, I know who my vote is going to (abeit unwillingly).

I suppose you can I say I vote based on my parents in some sense. However, I checked the "they can't make up their minds" box because, well first and completely unrelated, my mother is a hardcore Republican and would kill me in my sleep if she knew I voted for Kerry. However, my dad is mostly Democratic but in general he thinks everyone sucks so he never really has one way of voting. Consequently, I sit on the fence and vote for whoever I think is best, regardless of parties. I'm sure they tried to instill beliefs in me at some point, but I've always been a very make-up-my-own-mind kind of person, so the fact that I tend to vote like my mother for the most part is sheer coincidence. I think I'm a registered Republican...anywho, I go back and forth; it just depends on the candidates.

JD

Well, I used to vote like my parents, but it was more because I'd formed my own conclusions about the world growing up and just happened to agree with them, than being unduly influenced by them, I think. In other matters, like religion, I went my own way.

So I did vote Labour for most of my life. No more though. I pretty much believe that no politician of any ilk is to be trusted and they're all in it for the gravy train and their own benefit, not ours. I'm kind of with Billy Connolly on this one, in that the very fact that they became a politician should prove they're not to be trusted. <g> But I feel especially deeply betrayed by Blair, for many, many reasons, and don't believe there is a Labour party to vote for any more.

This was something which came up during the election coverage which puzzled me. You have to register to vote for a particular party, not just to have the right to vote? Doesn't this make any secret ballot somewhat moot? And what happens if you change your mind before election day and decide to vote for someone else? I was reading about some voters discovering that their registration had been switched from one party to another without their knowledge or permission. Would that be just to bump up numbers for pollsters? Some other advantage I haven't fathomed? Or would it actually make a difference to how someone could vote?


LabRat

Labrat,

Registering Republican gives you the right to vote in the Republican primary and pick the Republican candidates. Likewise registered Democrats pick the Democratic candidates in their primaries.

When you register to vote, you can choose to register Republican, Democrat, or "no party".* (People who choose "no party" can't vote in either primary.)

During the election itself, the vote is secret and you can vote for any candidate you want, regardless of party.

- Vicki

* edited to add- Technically, you don't have to choose from the 3 options I mention above (Rep., Dem, or "none"). There are or have been (some smaller parties come and go) a myriad of minor parties. Eg. Liberal Party, American Nazi Party, Communist Party, Labor Party, Independence Party, America First Party, US Marijuana Party (no, I'm not making this up!), Peace & Freedom Party, etc.....

I hope it's OK to post again (is double-posting bad etiquette?)

I just wanted to say to Metwin1 that I found the explanation of voting in Singapore to be very interesting! Why are so few seats contested? (Here, where political offices offer both a nice salary and no small amount of 'perks', there is never a shortage of candidates! )

- Vicki

If politics is genetic, there was some kind of mix-up at the hospital the day I was born.

Maybe my 'real' parents were visiting from liberal New England, or wait...Hollywood! And they accidentally took home the baby next to me, born of very conservative Southerners.

That would explain *a lot*.

I am the lone liberal black sheep in a family of dyed in the wool Republicans. I remember once overhearing my mom tell my dad, rather hopefully, "She'll out grow it. It's a phase."

Anyway, this makes holidays and family get togethers interesting. But, also, has been an education for me. I have 'proof' there are good people on both sides. (I know because I was raised among them. Mom, Dad, sisters, brothers.) And I learned early that people can see things through different lenses, completely different, and can still get along.

Still, I wonder how the baby I was switched with, now, no doubt, a grown-up conservative in a sea of bleeding hearts who don't want tax cuts, is faring these days.

No doubt feeling much cheerier than I am, but Thanksgiving dinner will still be as weird for her as me.

CC

CC,

I think I've found my long-lost sister! Please email me the name of the hospital and your date of birth.

All of us in the family have been very confused by my older sister's inexplicable conservatism for some time now. We try to humor her, but you are right - Thanksgiving dinner can be a bit strained.

Please answer quickly, as I think a simple DNA test will clear up this whole mess!

- Vicki

And we can all have a Happy Thanksgiving this year, Vicki!

Just trying to imagine how thrilled my own sister would be to find herself sitting across the table from her 'real', like-minded sibling, and not her ideological opposite. She might actually stick around through dessert.

You guys do serve dessert, right? Because I'll be there.

CC

Both pumpkin and pecan pies, CC, take your pick!

Actually, I'll be sad to see her go. I've grown rather attached to her. I even enjoy the arguments. Maybe because, in my mind, she hasn't won one yet.

Although, come to think of it, she'd probably say the same of me.

- Vicki

I voted other because I have no idea how my parents vote any more and I'm too scared to ask.

Growing up, we were a Labour family. My Dad was a member of the Labour party and so far as I know, my parents and my siblings all voted Labour.

Nowadays, my parents have moved to the right whereas I've remained a leftie, or perhaps a left-of-centre-y. I struggle to find a party I can vote for, however. Like Rat, I'm disappointed with Blair, yet I have difficulty voting for the Lib Dems because I know they'll never get enough votes to win. That said, I usually go with them on the basis that I'm being truer to myself than if I merely vote tactically.

Oh, and why am I too scared to ask my parents how they vote? a) because it will undoubtedly provoke an argument, and b) because I really don't want to know if they've started voting Conservative <g>.

Yvonne

Fascinating answers

For the record, when I talked about voting like your parents, I didn't mean that you had to call home to see who to vote for <g> I just know that I grew up in a very Republican family (my one grandma claimed that if God was a Democrat, she'd have nothing to do with Him), who talked about it a lot, and that a lot of my opinions were shaped in that context. I have since learned a lot and formed my own opinions (I admit it, I voted for Dukakis), but they do resemble those of my parents.

So I was just wondering if that was generally the case.

PJ

Vicki - thanks for that explanation. That makes things much clearer. Still a little confused as to what advantage is gained then by someone changing a voter's registrated allegience. I mean if someone is a registered Democrat and is switched to Republican without them knowing about it...they're not likely to be voting in the Republican primaries anyway. Right?

Yvonne - I feel for you and everyone like you in England. At least here we have a couple more choices. I'll probably end up voting for either the Scottish Nationals or the Scottish Socialists. Which will seriously kill me, given that I absolutely loathe the leaders of both parties. <g> But, if deeply flawed, they're still about the only option for me these days. And with our proportional system in Scotland, at least they have a chance of getting in and doing some good.

Although might give the Lib Dems a chance, for the same reason. I'd like to vote for them as I'm usually rather impressed with Charles Kennedy (convinced he's just smoother at hiding his true nature, but so far he's failed to show it to me, so I lean towards breaking my vow of never trusting a politician there...for the moment), and up here at least it wouldn't be a wasted vote.

LabRat