Pavel Bacovsky

Raising a politically engaged generation: when parental influence matters most

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 20:08:21 +0000

Raising a politically engaged generation: when parental influence matters most Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 14:08

Raising a politically engaged generation: when parental influence matters most

By: Pavel Bacovsky, Jennifer Fitzgerald

Abstract:

At what ages are young people most open to political influence? We test the “formative years” model that underscores the importance of childhood experiences for political development against the “impressionable years” model that asserts the primacy of lessons learned during adolescence. To assess the relative merits of these competing models, we develop a new analytical strategy: the Retrospective Family Context approach. We estimate the political engagement levels of 18-year-olds as a function of annual measures of their parents’ political engagement levels over the course of the prior decade. German household panel data analysis shows that parental cues sink in quite effectively during late childhood, ages 9 to 11, and during the late teens. These results illuminate an essential dimension of political development, and they can inform efforts to encourage young people political participation.

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To Belong: Feeling “At Home” and Support for Democracy

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 20:04:13 +0000

To Belong: Feeling “At Home” and Support for Democracy Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 14:04

To Belong: Feeling “At Home” and Support for Democracy

By: Jennifer Fitzgerald, Kathryn Schauer, Rachel Janie O’Neal, Pavel Bačovský

Abstract:

What explains support for democracy? We ask this question in the context of scholarly assertions that democratic values are weakening among citizens of long-time democracies, most notably among young people. We leverage a panel survey of young Swedes to explore the development of pro-democratic sentiments over time. Investigating whether belonging—specifically, feeling “at home” in Sweden, the municipality, and the neighborhood—strengthens support for democracy, we find that it does positively influence principled support for democracy. In relative terms, we find the impact of belonging to be stronger than that of well-known predictors such as socio-economic status and social capital. Our analysis stands to inform scholarship on democratic values and to illuminate the implications of belonging for political behavior. It also offers insight into the ways that societal integration in the form of belonging can develop among young democratic citizens: through feeling integrated into a range of social communities.

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Young citizens’ party support: the “when” and “who” of political influence within families

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:49:55 +0000

Young citizens’ party support: the “when” and “who” of political influence within families Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:49

Young citizens’ party support: the “when” and “who” of political influence within families

By: Jennifer Fitzgerald, Pavel Bacovsky

Abstract:

Decades of evidence point to the vital role of parents in shaping their children partisan leanings, particularly concerning mainstream parties. And yet the contours of intergenerational influence remain quite obscured. For instance, scholars disagree on when social learning in the household occurs (childhood vs adolescence) and about who is the dominant socializer (mother vs father). Data from a long-term German household panel survey allow for a fine-grained examination of intergenerational influence processes over time. We model the partisan preferences of 18-year-olds as a function of their mothers’ and fathers’ own contemporaneous and past partisan preferences. Our intergenerational inquiry reveals that mothers dominate socialization during childhood while influence in late adolescence is more evenly distributed between mothers and fathers. We also find that mothers have an advantage over fathers in communicating center-left party preferences. These findings have implications for our understanding of socialization, partisanship, and democratic stability.

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From xbox to the ballot box? The influence of leisure activities on political engagement and vote choice

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 20:51:45 +0000

From xbox to the ballot box? The influence of leisure activities on political engagement and vote choice Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/13/2021 - 14:51

PhD Candidate Pavel Bacovsky has had his article, “From xbox to the ballot box? The influence of leisure activities on political engagement and vote choice“ published in the Journal of Information Technology & Politics.

ABSTRACT

How does engagement in leisure activities, such as playing videogames, affect political behavior and preferences? Are young adult gamers just a group of basement-dwellers who are disengaged from politics, or are there specific political issues that gamers care about? Analysis of panel data of Swedish young adults suggests that avid gamers are more likely than non-gamers to care about issues that fall under the umbrella of Pirate politics, and therefore support the Swedish Pirate Party. Avid gamers are also more likely to use the Internet to engage in political behavior. These findings help explain the political attitudes of the ever-growing number of young adult gamers, and the effects of seemingly apolitical leisure activities on political behavior more broadly.

Learn more at: From xbox to the ballot box?

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Gaming Alone: Videogaming and Sociopolitical Attitudes

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 22:19:12 +0000

Gaming Alone: Videogaming and Sociopolitical Attitudes Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/06/2020 - 16:19

Pavel Bacovsky. "Gaming Alone: Videogaming and Sociopolitical Attitudes." 2020. New Media & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820910418.

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Gaming Alone: Videogaming and Sociopolitical Attitudes

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 17:48:33 +0000

Gaming Alone: Videogaming and Sociopolitical Attitudes Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/09/2020 - 11:48

Congratulations to Pavel Bacovsky, one of our very own Ph.D. Candidates! His article titled " Gaming alone: Videogaming and Sociopolitical Attitudes" has been published in SAGE Journals.

Abstract: What sustains prosocial attitudes and political engagement in the era of online connectivity? Scholars disagree on whether frequent consumers of virtual entertainment disconnect from sociopolitical life. Using the Swedish Political Socialization Panel dataset and partial-pool time series methodology, I investigate the relationship between playing videogames and adolescents’ political and social attitudes over time. I find that those gamers who spend more time engaging in their favorite pastime become less interested in sociopolitical issues and less prosocial than non-gamers from year to year. My findings tell a cautionary tale about the adverse effects of extensive gaming on the development of democratic attitudes among adolescents.

Check it out here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1461444820910418

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Political Science Graduate Students Receive Awards

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2019 16:58:58 +0000

Political Science Graduate Students Receive Awards Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/09/2019 - 10:58

The Graduate students of the Political Science Department received multiple honors at this year Graduate School Recognition Ceremony.

SeongJun Kim was awarded the Dissertation Completion Fellowship.
Pavel Bacovsky received the Graduate School Summer Fellowship.
Carey E. Stapleton earned the GPTI Teaching Excellence Award.
The Beverly Sears Award was given to Brett Bessen, Adriana Molina Garzon, Samantha Moya, and Timothy Passmore.

"Congratulations to our award winners and recipients of professional development certifications, and many thanks to the faculty and staff who support them in their research, creative work, and teaching, as well as the donors whose generosity make these awards possible."

Interim Dean Leslie Reynolds, the Graduate School

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