Political culture and the legacy of socialism in unified Germany

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    5 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Almost a quarter of a century after German unification, studies continue to
    uncover pervasive attachments to socialism in the former East. While these
    attachments have been a recurrent feature in analyses of political culture, surprisinglylittle is known about their sources. This article systematically explores the socio-political foundations of socialist values, by subjecting two theoretical perspectives to empirical testing. Political socialisation perspectives attribute these values to generationally based political identities that were forged in the pre-1989 era. Political economy perspectives, by contrast, stress how they have been reinforced by negative post-1989 evaluations of politics and materialism. Logistic regression analyses of ALLBUS data from 1991 to 2010 test nine hypotheses at the individual level, with the results confirming the following. First, there is evidence of an age-based structure to the foundations of socialist values: younger easterners are less likely to value socialism, but the evidence of this has emerged only recently. Second, equally important drivers of these values are support for parties on the left of the political spectrum and ideological self-placement. Third, economic factors have been selective and inconsistent predictors of socialist values. Overall, the research underscores the stability of socialist values in the German context, but argues that these values remain compatible with a political culture that is supportive of the democratic framework of unified Germany.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)271-291
    Number of pages21
    JournalGerman Politics
    Volume24
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 3 Jul 2015

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Political culture and the legacy of socialism in unified Germany'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this