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Nicholas Hemker
Mrs. Christina Eanes
Political Socialization Interview Paper
25 September 2015
Political Socialization and Beliefs
Political socialization is the process by which a person forms their ideas and beliefs about
politics and the people involved. Everybody has a different process, and some are influenced
more by friends and social media than political events, whereas others may be influenced more
by family or religion than social media. This difference is caused by not only personality and
childhood, but by age difference as well. For instance, 9/11 would have had more of an impact
on someone from the baby boom generation than it would have had on someone from the
generation of todays teens, as they were only toddlers when it occurred. To contrast the
difference of age alongside political socialization factors, two people were interviewed.
Anna Brougher, aged 68, was born in Aschaffenburg, Germany in 1947 on the way over
to the US from Ukraine. She then grew up in the US in a poor household typical of those newly
immigrated. Due to the fact that her parents were grown when they immigrated, she grew up
surrounded by a large distrust of others, especially the government. She attended Mercy College
in Detroit for her undergrad, and received a Masters in Education at Eastern Michigan
University. She married Luther Brougher, and had three daughters.
Brent Hemker, aged 45, was born in Dearborn, Michigan, and promptly moved to Novi
mere months after birth. He had a rocky childhood, with a 2-year-long divorce occurring when
he was four. He grew up very poor, but put his mind to saving every penny, and attended the
University of Michigan, receiving a Bachelors in Actuarial Sciences and not going a penny in
debt. He married Natalie Hemker and had 5 children (1 son and 4 daughters).

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A influencing factor in the formation of political beliefs are large events. When asked
about 9/11, both Anna and Brent talked about being concerned for domestic security. Anna said
After September 11th, you realized its here (in our country). I thought we were lax in how we
handled things, and it really brought it home in how we need to be cautious and have more laws
in place regarding terrorism. Lots of this comes in through my upbringing. Early experiences
(with terrorism) made the US look pretty lax in security. Brent, however concerned he was for
security, thinks it has been taken too far. You used to be able to drive to Canada for the
weekend with nothing more than a drivers license. Now, you need to pay $160+ for a passport,
and go through loads of security, just because of those stupid 9/11 attacks.
Anna, having been born in another country and not arriving in the US until 1953, has a
history of distrust in the government. Since my parents grew up in the Ukraine, they were
always looking over their shoulders, and when my sister or I would express opinions on
governmental choices, we would always hear back in response, Hush, someone might hear
you. This is because her parents grew up in a time dominated by the USSR presence in
Ukraine, where a friend one day might be an enemy the next. She says she has a large distrust
for politicians, even if they start out good, for she feels climbing the ladder of Washington
slowly corrupts those who climb the bars.
Religion is another huge factor in the development of political beliefs, and especially so
for the two interviewees. Anna is Byzantine Catholic, also known as Eastern Catholic. She has a
hard view of the government and its policies. She believes the government is not only harming
her faith, but christianity in general. As she said to me, Theres supposed to be a separation of
church and state, but in recent times the govt has gotten into religious issues that go against not
only Catholics but Christianity in general. I believe that politics have gone beyond into both
religious and moral territories, further than was originally intended. Brent, a Roman Catholic
soon to be ordained a Deacon (he has been through 5 years of formation) also has a critical view

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of the government and its delving into moral and religious issues. He believes that the
government has become too opposed to religion. We live in such an anti-religious society that
people have come to believe the lie of relativism, that what isnt good for one person could be
good for another. By this logic, we would not be able to lock up any criminals, because hey, its
bad to us, but it might be ok for them!
Our families and the community surrounding us also influence our perceptions. Anna
recalls voting based off of party. When I was a kid, you were either Democrat or Republican,
and you always voted by party lines, whether that person was good or not. By watching
elections growing up, I saw it wasnt the party that mattered but the person. It taught me to look
at the person campaigning rather than the party lines. Anna also expressed agitation at the
inconsistency between what politicians say vs. what they do. Brent, however, has always vote
staunchly by party lines. In my experience, a poor Republican would still better support my
beliefs than a good Democrat he expressed to me.
The recent rise of social media has also had an impact on the views of the two
interviewees. As Brent says, Social media has made politics such a joke. Instead of actually
hashing out debates, social media causes more inside-party wars than positioning on debates.
Take the current GOP debate for instance. All they did was attack each other, rather than
attacking the problems presented. Anna had a similar outlook. When I was a kid, you didnt
hear much about elections until midway through election year. Now, its like theyre having
mudslinging debates about the next election the day the new president is sworn in. Technologys
made it a media circus.
Another question Anna and Brent were asked to answer was How have your political
beliefs been affected by your education and your growth in knowledge over time? Brent talked
about how as he became more educated, he began to not only see a wider view, but also become
more solid in his beliefs as he went on. Ive always found, he said, when you take time to

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educate yourself about the world, you generally have a better idea of what choices should be
made and who should make them.
Anna focused more on the other side. Theres book learning and life learning, she said,
you can have all the book learning in the world, but if you dont have any life learning, you
wont be able to make as good of choices. She also focused on less educated people. Those
who have a lesser education have a I look the likes of him/her perspective, but dont have the
education to see that theyre being fed lies. They have issues seeing the candidate in a real light.
For example: Gee, Im going to vote for him because hes not a politician. They dont look at
possible consequences or the persons history, because politicians have messed up the world so
much so that people would rather vote for anyone but a politician.
When asked about how the neighborhood around them influenced their political beliefs,
both responses were along the same lines. Anna recalls how, as new immigrants, her father had a
hard time landing a stable job. He did a lot of odd jobs, so we lived in a poor neighborhood.
But, since everyone around us was poor, we (the children) didnt know we were poor. Our
family life was based off religion, so my political choices have always been based off religious
beliefs as opposed to quality of living. Brent said virtually the same thing. We were quite
poor, as my mother was the only adult in the house, so the local priest would spend lots of time
at the house, just helping around. We were very thankful toward him, and he really strengthened
our Roman Catholic faith. So, I think my political decisions have always been based off faith
rather than childhood experiences.
In short, Anna and Brent were influenced the most by two different things. As mentioned
several times, Anna is highly influenced by her immigration to America, and what that meant.
Because of this immigration, her style of political beliefs is mostly conservative, with a healthy
distrust of the government and media mixed in. Brent, however, is more based in his faith, and
goes through his faith when he makes his decisions. Anna was also influenced by her faith,

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though not as much as her early life. Political beliefs are made up of many experiences and
teachings - what matters is how the person receives it.