Children’s Socialization, Temperament and the Civic Duty to Vote

What makes an individual more prone to vote? Although it is very intuitive to suggest that civic citizens stem from a civic socialization, individuals’ civic duty to vote -unlike turnout itself- has never been addressed from the political socialization framework. Yet turnout is conditioned by rational factors (costs, benefits and the probabilities of being pivotal in an election) that are not sensitive to socialization processes. This research tries to fill this gap in the literature by putting to empirical test that the belief that voting is a civic duty is early formed. More precisely, the socialization potential of the two major socialization agencies in infancy, the family and the school, are put to empirical test. Their effects are controlled by genetic predispositions that are likely to affects duty and, ultimately, turnout: certain types of temperament measured in early childhood, by means of a Canadian panel survey.