Participation prevents (not always) disenchantment with politics

by OK

In attitude and participation research it is argued that political participation can counteract political disaffection. However, the relationships between the action and attitude level are complicated, in particular, due to inconsistent causal relationships and their directions of action as well as multiple interactions. In this article, the interrelations of political participation on the one hand and political support on the attitude dimension on the other are multivariatly analyzed based on a survey of active members of all seven Bundestag parties in the run-up to the 2017 federal election. As one result, on the left and right of the political spectrum conventional participation in a party is accompanied by system-critical attitudes, and thus they find a system-appropriate outlet for their point of view.

The article is published in: ZParl, Vol. 49 (2018), Issue 4, pp. 919 – 932.

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