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Support for Civil Liberties among a Cohort of High School Graduates and College Students
Author(s) -
Montero Darrel
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1975.tb00764.x
Subject(s) - civil liberties , marital status , democracy , politics , psychology , graduation (instrument) , civil rights , social psychology , political science , law , sociology , demography , engineering , population , mechanical engineering
This study examines one facet of political attitudes, support for those civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, employing a modified version of the Selvin‐Hagstrom Libertarian Index, administered by mail questionnaire to an entire high school senior class four years after graduation. The varied educational backgrounds, combined with the original relative homogeneity of the sample, allow for a refined analysis of the impact of selected demographic variables (e.g., sex, marital status, religious affiliation, political party identification, and education). The results replicate the well established finding that education is positively and highly related to support of civil liberties. In addition, sex and religion are found to exert an impact upon support for civil liberties. Findings are discussed in reference to the role of higher education in democratic societies.