It's the new hot topic in psychological twin research-to what extent do
genes affect our interest and participation in politics? With the November election looming in the very near future, this is an opportune time to examine the research.
Studies by James Fowler at the University of California, San Diego address a host of relevant questions. It turns out that simply voting has a genetic basis. Research has shown greater similarity between identical than fraternal twins across eight different California elections. This result was later replicated using an entirely different sample, drawn from a national study.
Do genes affect the strength and direction of partisanship? Again, twin studies can help answer these questions. This time, Fowler and his colleagues solicited the participation of twins attending the annual Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio. Twins responded to the question: "Generally speaking, do you usually think of yourself as a Republican, Democrat, or what?" The seven response categories (later reduced to four) were Strong Democrat; Democrat; Independent, but closer to Democrats; Independent; Independent, but closer to Republicans; Republican; Strong Republican.
Genetic effects were found for partisan strength, but not for partisan direction. However, non-twin research by John Alford at Rice University and John Hibbing at the University of Nebraska has found some intriguing associations between partisanship and reactions to various types of stimuli. Individuals reacting more strongly to negative stimuli were more likely to endorse conservative policies than individuals reacting less negatively. Attitudes on social policies had been assessed by questionnaires.
Politicians. Only a small percentage of individuals seek higher governmental office, so it is striking to discover identical twins holding similar positions, or showing similar levels of involvement. Identical twins, Lech and Jarowslaw Kaczynski, were President and Prime Minister of Poland, respectively. Lech was inaugurated as President in December 2005, while Jarowslaw was appointed Prime Minister by his twin brother in July 2006. Jaroslaw was later ousted by Donald Tusk from the opposition party in October 2007.
Another well-know political pair is identical twins Julian and Joaquin Castro, from San Antonio, Texas. After graduating from Stanford University and the Harvard Law School, Julian became a member of the City Council and later ran unsucessfully for Mayor in 2005. Joaquin became one of the youngest state legislators in Texas, an office he still holds. Other sets include Jerry and Terry Kilgore, and Ron and Don Mosbaugh Jerry Kilgore is the former Attorney General of Virginia. He ran for governor of that state in 2005, but was defeated. Terry Kilgore is serving his eighth terms as delegate of Virginia's first legislative district. Don and Ron Mosbaugh both ran for Jasper County, Missouri coroner in 2000. The twins shared their campaign manager, but Don ran as a Democrat and Ron ran as a Republican. Ron (the incumbent) defeated Don with a vote count of 22,859 to 13,247. (It is curious that the first letters of their first names correspond to the first letters of their party affiliations.)
No one has done a twin study focusing on political careers, but such a study would be worth doing. Note that all of the pairs cited above are identical. Fraternal twin politicians tend to serve as individuals, e.g., Donna Shalala Shalala (former Secretary of Health and Human Services) and the late Paul Tsongas (former Massachusetts senator).
It is interesting to speculate as to the kinds of characteristics that propel a person into a political career. Various combinations of civic responsibility, extroversion, stage presence, information-processing and verbal skills are most likely required. Most, if not all, of these have demonstrated genetic components. Clearly, there are no single genes for becoming a politician-but an array of genetically influenced traits, in conjunction with the right opportunities, might provide the answer. So far, the only twins to live in the White House have been George Bush's fraternal twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna. There have never been any United State presidents who were twins.
A more detailed version of this essay, including references, will be available in an upcoming issue ofTwin Research and Human Genetics, the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies.
