The general view among researchers is that a well-functioning democracy rests in the handsof the political behaviour of citizens. In this behaviour, political interest is one of thecornerstones. Thus, there are reasons to regard it as a threat to democracy when young peopletend to have ever-lower levels of political interest. Therefore, to know how interest couldincrease, there is a need to know where it comes from and why it differs. There is yetuncertainty regarding this, notably since political interest as a concept rarely is used as adependent variable. Consequently, this thesis was aimed to explain why political interestdiffers among upper-secondary school students in Sweden. The focus was on the two types ofnational programmes, political socialization and socio-economic background. The findings of survey data (N=398) suggest that the average youth has low levels of politicalinterest. As hypothesized, there are, on average, higher levels of political interest amongstudents in preparatory academic programmes compared to vocational programmes. Alonethough, this pattern cannot explain variations of interest. Instead, agents of politicalsocialization have strong explanatory power, in particular friends and media. Also, family dohave a direct effect on political interest. However, this relationship appears to be dependent onsocio-economic background. The school as a political socialization agent cannot explaindifferences in political interest.

This study investigated the influence of three variables on current political attitudes of secondary school adolescents at two suburban-rural high schools in the northern Virginia area. Ability, grade level, and sex were examined to determine their influence on attitude measures essential to the develoµnent of citizenship within the social studies curriculum. The Freedans Scale, Law Scale and Dogmatism Field Scale were administered to a random sample of 180 ninth and twelfth grade adolescents which was equally divided between male and female subjects. The sample was further divided by ability levels (low, average, and high) which were selected by SRA subtest scores in reading, math, language arts, and educational ability. Significant findings were discerned using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and chi-square analysis. Group and individual differences were examined for each of the independent variables studied as they affected the dependent measures of political attitudes. One three-way and three two-way interactions were tested using the MANOVA. Only one interaction (ability by grade) was significant at the .05 level on the Dogmatism Scale. It was concluded that an increase in grade and ability levels effect lower scores on the Dogmatism Field Scale. Lower dogmatism scores effect an increase in support for the fundamental freedoms embodied in the Freedoms Scale. Sex, as a variable, was the only main effect that did not interact with ability level or grade. The mean scores of the females in the study were slightly higher than the mean scores of the males on both the Freedoms Scale and the Law Scale. These results indicated a greater support for the fundamental freedoms embodied in the Freedoms Scale and a greater respect for the law and government officials for females over males. Separate chi-square analysis of the individual responses to the questions on the Freedoms Scale and the Iaw Scale indicated a total of 21 items from the scales significantly related to ability and 17 items significantly related to grade or sex. No identifiable pattern was discernable which could be generalized into a group description of adolescent support or non-support for combinations of the various items. Curricular approaches were suggested to improve citizenship instruction in the area of political socialization and recommendations were made for future research. / Ed. D.

兩岸關係研究在開放政策的導引下，自過去以共黨體制與理論研究，轉為更務實的經濟和文化研究，兩岸社會和人民透過頻繁交流瞭解彼此，是目前兩岸關係的重要發展，其中一項趨勢即是大陸年輕學生能在台灣停留，並在一段不算短的時間內深入一般民間生活，這些所謂的「陸生」在來台停留4個月以上的時間內，除了在學校上課，騎單車環島、搭「台灣好行」、搭台鐵、坐公車等等方式，在台灣城市和鄉野間體驗與感受，一部分人更在選舉造勢場合，和激動的選民一起喊凍蒜凍蒜。 根據Allport以來學者對於接觸相關研究文獻的瞭解，群際之間的研究必須考慮接觸的內涵、接觸的過程以及制約接觸的條件等對接觸效果的影響。傳統「接觸假說」認為類似文化背景之群體可透過深度交流接觸達到真正理解溝通，消除群際偏見與隔閡，達到族群融合。 本論文即以上述理論為基礎探討兩岸年輕學子交流的樣態及效，透過量化的問卷與深度訪談，探索這個族群接觸內涵與過程，理解到所謂的「接觸」並不能僅限於「接觸的頻率和時間長短」，也不能僅奠基在語言文化具類似性的基礎上，就達到「接觸假說」所預設的「消除類屬」(de-categorization)或進一步「融合類屬」(re-categorization)。因為族群之間各成員心中存在著「自我類屬」(self-categorization)，想要消融彼此的界線，必須先探索成員對自我類屬的定義，此外還須考慮接觸環境上制度面的制約，從制度面的設計增加群際成員的接觸頻率，才能進一步減少成員的「群際偏見」(intergroup bias)及增進「群際情感」(intergroup emotion)。 / In the leading of open policy, the mainstream of cross-strait studies has shifted from Socialism and Communism to Economy and Culture. At the tide of exchange, Chinese exchange students studying in Taiwan are the most propriate targets to learn about, less sensitive and having deep contact with Taiwan society. According to the related studies like Allport’s, scholars should take the content, process, and constrait of contact into consideration while studying the relations between nation groups. Traditional “contact assumption” assumes groups sharing similar culture background will reach mutually understand through exchange in depth, deliminate bias and barriers between groups. This study has examed the impact of the frequency and time length, the language and culture similarity on contact, knowing that those conditions above are not the only factors to de-categorization or further re-categorization. The members of each group have bared self-categorization in mind. Eliminating intergroup bias and enhance intergroup emotion would play an important part of breaking down the walls between groups. Besides, the goal of institutional design is to make the contact more intensive and to avoid the false contact. The less attractions offered by media to the Chinese exchange students, the less political socialization they will have. So the policy design should be delicate enough to allow those students to take the advantages of curriculums、professors, and schools to reach the goal of social contact between the young generations of cross-strait.

儘管民主政治是一種不夠完美的制度，但仍係人類社會迄今為止最能尊重與保障個人平等自由生活方式的一種政治制度，故而在廿世紀下半葉廣獲世界各國青睞。透過政治文化的觀點，我們瞭解到民主政治的建立與發展，一般人民是否具有民主的精神與素養，往往要比政治制度或典則是否完善，更具有決定性的影響。因此，本研究將「民主」定義為一種生活方式，希望從人們對民主內涵之覺察與認識，從蘊含於其日常行為價值觀中的表現，探討民主價值成為個人生活方式的可能影響。 東亞大陸上的華人社會，不論是中國大陸或台灣都肯定民主的價值，也都朝民主的方向邁進，然而二者選擇之路徑不同，歷經之階段亦不相同。台灣已成功地從威權體制轉型為民主政治，大陸則在改革開放的驅動下，著手施行有中國特色的社會主義民主建設。民主轉型能否成為兩岸未來和平對話的契機？值得我們關注。 兩岸青年雖然生活於不同的教育環境，但是資訊時代為他（她）們的成長提供了日益趨同的國際舞台。在現代化民主潮流的衝激下，他（她）們習得怎樣的民主內涵，對兩岸關係未來的發展，勢必會有重要的影響。因而本研究關切兩岸大學生政治學習的內容如何，其民主意識的內涵有何異同，兩岸大學生會有怎樣的政治參與意向，以及社會化媒介對其民主意識和政治參與意向所可能的影響。 經由內容分析法比較兩岸大學生高中時期政治學習的內容，發現兩岸的教育重心都在強化政治知識和政治策略，但本質意涵仍有顯著差異：其中各自對「政治社群」的認同對象不同、「政治知識」的來源不同、「政治策略」的性質不同，猶有甚者，彼此教科書對「民主價值」的認知與詮釋差異甚大。大陸方面的政治教科書對意識形態的強調與堅持比台灣遠甚。 本研究同時以態度量表進行經驗調查，以立意取樣的方式，在兩岸選取政治大學、成功大學、東吳大學和北京大學、人民大學、（廣州）中山大學等六所學校共1100餘位學生作為對比分析。經過冗長的統計分析與論證，本研究所提出的各項假設獲得了部分的驗證。 根據本研究發現，兩岸大學生影響其民主意識與政治參與意向的原因容或有所不同，但從調查結果可知，雖然兩岸在政治、經濟體制上分離了五十餘年，但本研究所調查的兩岸大學生在許多方面都呈現了相同之處，並且對於民主仍充滿了肯定，甚至大陸大學生對於民主的渴望猶勝生活在自由風氣中的台灣大學生。筆者認為，這樣的共識讓兩岸有了對話的平台，在未來的兩岸關係中，這群政治與社會的菁英勢必能由此發展出新的出路。 / Democratic political system which has been widely accepted in the second half of the 20th century all over the world has played the best role in respecting and guaranteeing individuals’ equal and liberal lifestyle so far, though it might not be the most perfect. Though the view of political culture, we acknowledge that in the establishment and development of democratic politics, whether the ordinary people have democratic spirits usually has more crucial effects than whether the political regimes and norms are flawless. Therefore in this research, the writer defines ‘democracy’ as ‘a lifestyle’ and tries to discuss the possible effect of democratic lifestyle through people’s awareness and understanding of democratic connotation and their daily behavior reflecting their values. In the Chinese society on the Eastern Asia continent, both the Mainland China and Taiwan approve the democratic value and move toward the democracy. But they chose different ways, either the developing stages. Taiwan has successfully changed from the authoritarian system to democratic politics while the Mainland China has been performing the China Style Socialist Democracy Construction in the motivation of the market-oriented Reformation. Can the democratic transition create a peacefully conversational opportunity? It’s worth paying attention. The youth of both sides are living in the different educational environment, but the Information Age provides them an international stage more and more similar. By the wash of democratic wave, what democratic connotation they have learned will make a big impact on the cross-straight relationship in the future. So this research concerns on the undergraduates’ political study contents, the differences between their democratic connotation, their political participation wills and the probably effects of socialization media on their democratic conscious and political participation wills. After comparing the political study contents in high school by content analysis method, it is found that the educational cores of both sides are political knowledge and political policy, but they have distinct essences in who the political community identifies, where the political knowledge comes, what the political policy means, and the most different, how the democratic value is explained. The political textbook of the Mainland China enhances the ideology more often than Taiwan. Meanwhile, in this research the scaling method was adopted to execute the experience survey. With the purpose-sampling method, more than 1100 students of National Cheng Chi University, National Cheng Kung University and Soochow University in Taiwan and Peking University, Renmin University and Sun Yet-san University in the Mainland China are chosen. Through the tough statistic analysis and demonstration, the hypotheses of this research have been large partly proved. According to the research founds, in both sides the factors which effect the undergraduates’ democratic conscious and political participation wills are different. This survey also tells us that the undergraduates in both sides has a lot in common although have been politically and economically separated for more than 50 years. They both feel very positive towards democracy, further more, the Mainland China undergraduates are more eager to democracy than Taiwan undergraduates who are living the liberal atmosphere. The author believes that this common opinion constructs the talk bridge between the Straights. In the future, these political and social elites will develop a new peaceful path to change the present vague relationship between both sides through the democratic way.

Cette thèse étudie certains des facteurs liés au développement de l'intérêt pour la politique chez les adolescents à l'aide de trois articles. J'utilise des données provenant d'une enquête par questionnaires, conduite durant trois ans auprès de jeunes Montréalais étudiant au secondaire. Le premier article examine le rôle du réseau social (parents, amis et enseignants) dans le développement de l'intérêt. Je démontre que les parents qui discutent souvent de politique sont plus susceptibles d'avoir des enfants intéressés par la politique et dont l'intérêt se développera. Cependant, le rôle des autres agents de socialisation ne devrait pas être sous-estimé. Les amis ont souvent un effet similaire aux parents lorsqu'il s'agit du changement dans l'intérêt, et les résultats suggèrent que les enseignants, à travers certains cours comme ceux d'histoire, peuvent jouer un rôle civique important. Le deuxième article aborde la question de la causalité entre l'intérêt politique et trois attitudes: le cynisme, l'attachement partisan et le sens du devoir. Il s'agit de voir quel effet la présence de ces attitudes chez les adolescents a sur le développement de leur intérêt politique, et inversement, si l'intérêt a un effet sur le changement dans ces attitudes. Je démontre qu'il existe une relation de réciprocité entre l'intérêt et le cynisme, de même qu'entre l'intérêt et le sens du devoir. Cependant, dans le cas de l'attachement partisan, l'effet est unidirectionnel: le fait d'aimer un parti n'est pas lié à la présence d'intérêt ou de désintérêt politique, alors que cette attitude influence le développement de l'intérêt pour la politique. Le troisième article aborde la question du développement de l'intérêt à l'aide d'entrevues. Treize jeunes ayant répondu aux trois vagues de l'enquête par questionnaires ont été rencontrés et leurs commentaires permettent de répondre à trois questions de recherche: les jeunes ont-ils une image négative de la politique? Les jeunes fuient-ils la controverse? Leurs amis occupent-ils une place prépondérante dans le développement de leur intérêt? Ces jeunes expriment une opinion très nuancée de la politique, de même qu'un goût pour les débats et autres images concrètes de la politique. Par contre, leur intérêt ne se reflète pas dans un engagement soutenu. Enfin, leurs parents sont plus importants que leurs amis lorsqu'il s'agit du développement de leur intérêt pour la politique. / This dissertation studies factors linked to the development of political interest among teenagers through three articles. I use panel data from questionnaires distributed each year for three years to Montreal high school students. The first article examines the role of the social network (parents, friends, teachers) in the development of political interest. I demonstrate that parents who often discuss politics have children who are more interested in politics and who are more likely to develop political interest. The effect of other agents of socialization should not be underestimated, however, as friends were often found to be on par with parents concerning their influence on change in political interest, and results concerning teachers suggest that some classes, history in this case, can play an important civic role. The second article addresses the question of causality between political interest and three attitudes: cynicism, party attachment and civic duty. I investigate the extent to which these attitudes have an effect on change in political interest, and, conversely, the extent to which political interest affects change in these attitudes. Analysis of the data shows a reciprocal relationship between cynicism and interest, as well as between civic duty and interest. In the case of party affinity, however, the effect is unidirectional. Party affinity does not emerge as a result of political interest or disinterest, while this attitude was found to influence the development of political interest. The third article uses interviews to address the question of the development of political interest. Thirteen teenagers, each of whom participated in all three waves of the panel survey, were interviewed. Their comments were analyzed in light of three research questions: Do young people have a negative image of politics? Are they conflict-averse? Are their friends central in the development of their political interest? Teenagers express a moderate opinion of politics, often devoid of the cynicism attributed them, as well as a taste for debates and other concrete practices of politics. Their interest, however, does not reflect strong engagement. Finally, their parents are more important than their friends when it comes to the development of their political interest.

Since the Civil Rights era, African Americans have come a long way. In the years since the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, there have been dramatic increases in education, political representation, business ownership, and occupational position. Yet, for all of the economic, social and political advances made in the African American community, many young people are still subjected to inferior schools, housing and depressed communities where crime, drugs, police brutality and HIV/AIDS run rampant. As a result, there is a growing tension among the community over the root causes of their predicament and the most adequate way of dealing with them. Based on the generational political theory, this dissertation examines generational effects within the African American community since 1964. From this period, three distinct cohorts are analyzed: the Civil Rights, Integration, and Hip Hop generations. The objective is to determine if different experiences over this period have modified political values, attitudes, and behaviors from one generation to the next. Using data from the 1996 National Black Elections Study (NBES), I examine public policy preferences and political attitudes of African Americans. I use bivariate and multivariate analysis to show generational gaps in attitudes about issues related to major party performance. I draw three major conclusions from this analysis. First, racial group interests remain powerfully important across all cohorts. Next, the Hip Hop generation tends to hold more conservative attitudes than either the Civil Rights or the Integration generations. Finally, I conclude that at the very core of black politics, political values have not changed. However, there is a tension among the Hip Hop cohort between the impending attitudinal changes and the more traditional values of the Civil Rights cohort. The proposed dissertation contributes to the body of research by analyzing generational politics and behavior to better understand the future of black politics in the 21st century.

L'objectif de cette thèse est d'identifier la nature des idées ou des messages politiques véhiculés dans les programmes scolaires, afin de déterminer si le processus de socialisation peut apporter des solutions aux dysfonctionnements des États africains et du Tchad en particulier. La recherche est centrée sur les aspects éducatifs de cette problématique, à travers plus précisément une analyse critique du contenu des manuels destinés aux élèves des écoles primaires de N'Djamena.Nous nous sommes focalisé sur trois points principaux. Le premier, de nature théorique, évoque les approches classiques et contemporaines ayant trait à la transmission des connaissances, aux mécanismes de pouvoir et à l'histoire coloniale. Le second consiste à décrypter, tant quantitativement que qualitativement, les thématiques ayant des significations politiques et figurant dans les manuels visés. Le troisième est de nature empirique : il s'appuie, d'une part, sur une échelle de politisation conçue sur la base des 90 vocables les plus représentatifs de ce champ et, d'autre part, sur des entretiens menés avec des acteurs de l'Éducation nationale et centrés sur des questions relatives à ce secteur telles que les problèmes entravant son développement, l'impact des décisions centrales et les alternatives susceptibles de dépasser les obstacles rencontrés.Cette contribution permet de confirmer notre hypothèse selon laquelle ce qui est inculqué aux élèves tchadiens n'incarne pas une culture garante de cohabitation, mais contribue à la dégradation de la situation politique du pays, le système de valeurs ainsi véhiculées ne favorisant pas la constitution d'une identité nationale commune. / The objective of this thesis is to identify the nature of political ideas or messages conveyed in the curriculum, to determine whether the socialization process can provide solutions to the failures of African states and Chad in particular. The research focuses on the educational aspects of this problem, specifically through a critical analysis of the content of textbooks for primary school children in N'Djamena.We focused on three main points. The first, theoretical in nature, evokes the classic and contemporary approaches to dealing with the transmission of knowledge, the mechanisms of power and colonial history. The second is to decipher, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the themes that have meanings and policies contained in the textbooks in question. The third is empirical: it is based on the one hand, on a scale of politicization designed based on the 90 most representative words of the field and on the other hand, on interviews with actors national Education and focused on issues related to this area such as problems hindering its development, the impact of central decisions and alternatives that could overcome the obstacles encountered.This contribution confirms our hypothesis that what is taught to students Chadian culture does not embody a guarantee of cohabitation, but contributes to the worsening political situation, the value system and conveyed does not favor the establishment of a common national identity.

Bezugnehmend auf die kontrovers diskutierten Krisenszenarien einer zunehmend politikdistanzierten Jugendgeneration, wurden in den letzten Jahren immer wieder Fragen nach den Möglichkeiten einer Re-Integration politischer Gemeinschaften thematisiert. Dabei avancierten gerade zivilgesellschaftliche Assoziationen im vorpolitischen Raum zu potenziellen Hoffnungsträgern für die Re-Integration politischer Gemeinschaften. Über die Beteiligung in Freiwilligenvereinigungen könnten sich gerade Jugendliche in ihrer Rolle des „mündigen Bürgers“ üben und „Demokratie im Kleinen“ erproben. Diese inzwischen durchaus kontrovers und differenziert diskutieren Annahmen werden in der vorliegenden Arbeit systematisch aufgearbeitet und in einem darauf aufbauenden Schritt mit empirischen Daten konfrontiert. Über Sekundäranalysen einschlägiger Surveys wird speziell für das Jugendalter recherchiert, welchen Erklärungsbeitrag die Beteiligung in Sportvereinen, kulturellen Vereinigungen, kirchlichen Gruppen und der freiwilligen Feuerwehr für den Erwerb von politischen Orientierungen und Verhaltensweisen leisten kann, welche Kompetenzen auf diesem Wege überhaupt erworben werden, welche Bedeutung den Kontexten der Partizipation in diesem Zusammenhang zukommt und welche weiteren Einflussgrößen zu berücksichtigen sind. / The ongoing debate on the citizens’ growing disenchantment with politics often focusses on political attitudes of adolescents. However, an increasing number of publications also address ways of political re-integration. Here, voluntary associations are perceived as schools of democracies that contribute to adolescents’ political socialization. It is claimed that membership in these associations induces civic mindedness, promotes positive feelings towards democracy and fosters political participation. This dissertation examines these assumptions: It gives an overview of the literature and empirically tests socialization mechanisms. Based on a secondary analysis of different surveys it is asked which particular political attitudes are socialized by the membership in voluntary associations. In addition, it is examined which types of voluntary associations contribute to political socialization. Furthermore, the dissertation also addresses the question if effects arise from active membership within these organizations and if selection effects account for correlations between associational membership and political attitudes.

Cette thèse analyse la socialisation politique de 92,6% des eurodéputés polonais au Parlement européen pendant leur premier mandat entre 2004 et 2009. Son objectif est de comprendre ce processus en détail dans cette institution par définition, supranationale et pro-européenne - et donc de préciser concrètement quels acteurs politiques (première partie) se conforment à quoi, pourquoi, où, en combien de temps, comment, grâce à qui ou quoi (seconde partie) et jusqu’à quel point (troisième partie). L’étude montre que la socialisation politique pendant les cinq premières années n’est pas un processus très puissant car elle provoque seulement l’ajustement aux spécificités formelles et informelles de la vie quotidienne et, possiblement, l’approfondissement plus ou moins léger des attitudes et du comportement de base (dans un sens pro- ou anti- européen, en fonction de l’orientation). Autrement dit, elle transforme les novices en experts mais pas en natifs. Soit elle n’intervient que partiellement et il serait alors préférable de qualifier ce qui se passe réellement tout simplement d’intégration politique et non de socialisation politique soit elle nécessite plus de cinq ans, en commençant par l’acquisition des spécificités europarlementaires, puisque cette étape-ci prend déjà parfois même tout le mandat. / This thesis analyses the political socialization of 92.6% of the Polish Members of the European Parliament during their first mandate from 2004 to 2009. Its aim is to understand in full this process in this institution which is by definition supranational and pro-European and therefore to specify concretely which political actors (first part) comply with what, why, where, how long, how, thanks to whom or what (second part) and to what extent (third part). The study shows that political socialization in the first five years is not a very powerful process as it causes only the adjustment to everyday formal and informal specificities and, possibly, a more or less weak deepening of initial attitudes and behavior (in a pro or anti-European sense, according to the orientation). In other words, the process turns newcomers into experts without making them natives. It either occurs only in part, in which case it would be preferable to characterize what actually happens simply as political integration and not as political socialization, or it takes more than five years, starting with the acquisition of Euro-parliamentary specificities, as this stage sometimes already takes the whole mandate.

Cette thèse étudie certains des facteurs liés au développement de l'intérêt pour la politique chez les adolescents à l'aide de trois articles. J'utilise des données provenant d'une enquête par questionnaires, conduite durant trois ans auprès de jeunes Montréalais étudiant au secondaire. Le premier article examine le rôle du réseau social (parents, amis et enseignants) dans le développement de l'intérêt. Je démontre que les parents qui discutent souvent de politique sont plus susceptibles d'avoir des enfants intéressés par la politique et dont l'intérêt se développera. Cependant, le rôle des autres agents de socialisation ne devrait pas être sous-estimé. Les amis ont souvent un effet similaire aux parents lorsqu'il s'agit du changement dans l'intérêt, et les résultats suggèrent que les enseignants, à travers certains cours comme ceux d'histoire, peuvent jouer un rôle civique important. Le deuxième article aborde la question de la causalité entre l'intérêt politique et trois attitudes: le cynisme, l'attachement partisan et le sens du devoir. Il s'agit de voir quel effet la présence de ces attitudes chez les adolescents a sur le développement de leur intérêt politique, et inversement, si l'intérêt a un effet sur le changement dans ces attitudes. Je démontre qu'il existe une relation de réciprocité entre l'intérêt et le cynisme, de même qu'entre l'intérêt et le sens du devoir. Cependant, dans le cas de l'attachement partisan, l'effet est unidirectionnel: le fait d'aimer un parti n'est pas lié à la présence d'intérêt ou de désintérêt politique, alors que cette attitude influence le développement de l'intérêt pour la politique. Le troisième article aborde la question du développement de l'intérêt à l'aide d'entrevues. Treize jeunes ayant répondu aux trois vagues de l'enquête par questionnaires ont été rencontrés et leurs commentaires permettent de répondre à trois questions de recherche: les jeunes ont-ils une image négative de la politique? Les jeunes fuient-ils la controverse? Leurs amis occupent-ils une place prépondérante dans le développement de leur intérêt? Ces jeunes expriment une opinion très nuancée de la politique, de même qu'un goût pour les débats et autres images concrètes de la politique. Par contre, leur intérêt ne se reflète pas dans un engagement soutenu. Enfin, leurs parents sont plus importants que leurs amis lorsqu'il s'agit du développement de leur intérêt pour la politique. / This dissertation studies factors linked to the development of political interest among teenagers through three articles. I use panel data from questionnaires distributed each year for three years to Montreal high school students. The first article examines the role of the social network (parents, friends, teachers) in the development of political interest. I demonstrate that parents who often discuss politics have children who are more interested in politics and who are more likely to develop political interest. The effect of other agents of socialization should not be underestimated, however, as friends were often found to be on par with parents concerning their influence on change in political interest, and results concerning teachers suggest that some classes, history in this case, can play an important civic role. The second article addresses the question of causality between political interest and three attitudes: cynicism, party attachment and civic duty. I investigate the extent to which these attitudes have an effect on change in political interest, and, conversely, the extent to which political interest affects change in these attitudes. Analysis of the data shows a reciprocal relationship between cynicism and interest, as well as between civic duty and interest. In the case of party affinity, however, the effect is unidirectional. Party affinity does not emerge as a result of political interest or disinterest, while this attitude was found to influence the development of political interest. The third article uses interviews to address the question of the development of political interest. Thirteen teenagers, each of whom participated in all three waves of the panel survey, were interviewed. Their comments were analyzed in light of three research questions: Do young people have a negative image of politics? Are they conflict-averse? Are their friends central in the development of their political interest? Teenagers express a moderate opinion of politics, often devoid of the cynicism attributed them, as well as a taste for debates and other concrete practices of politics. Their interest, however, does not reflect strong engagement. Finally, their parents are more important than their friends when it comes to the development of their political interest.