This is a really important aspect of socialization because it is one that is not typically covered in orientation! How could an employee orientation manual address the political nature of the business because it changes so often. Politics are also one of the aspects that are most likely not to conform with all of the other pictures of the organization. For example, the organization could have a formal document that outlines its history when the reality is quite different. For example, I used to work for a company that was founded by a man. Then he got married. The company then changed its status to say that the wife started and owned the business so that they could go after contracts that favored woman-owned businesses. It was only after working there for awhile that I realized the truth! Needless to say it was not politically correct to mention the discrepancy!
Have you had the experience of the political reality being at odds with any of the other aspects of socialization?