Explaining change in party identification in adolescence

What are the roots of party identification? Credit (or blame) often falls to parents, who have been shown to play a central role in development of partisan identification in adolescence. Usually in models of parental transmission of partisanship, children are seen as unquestioning recipients of partisan messages. I consider whether this is so, investigating whether differences in young people's levels of political interest, attention, and engagement direct the development of partisan identity. I also explore the effects of factors beyond the household such as the state campaign context in producing partisan instability across a midterm campaign season. I find that the development of adolescent partisanship reflects both the political personality of adolescents and their wider political environment.