Menu
Search
Political attitudes and political participation of migrants in Germany ,
Working Paper 46, entitled 'Political attitudes and political participation of migrants in Germany', is the tenth part of the “Integration report” series. The portrayal is based on empirical data and studies, and focuses, firstly, on the manifestation of selected political attitudes and, secondly, on the use of different forms of political participation.
According to the study, attitudes that help to nurture political participation, such as a positive assessment of one’s own political understanding, are less prominent among first-generation immigrants than among those who belong to the second generation of immigrants or persons with no migration background. There are however virtually no differences between persons with no migration background and persons belonging to the second generation of immigrants if the latter have German nationality. The longer the period of residence, the greater is the political awareness of those who themselves immigrated. This indicates that political orientation is a process which takes time.
Greater interest in politics among members of the second generation of immigrants
A smaller percentage of migrants who themselves have experienced immigration are interested in politics than individuals with no migration background or second-generation migrants. Almost 60 percent of members of the latter two groups state that they are fairly or very interested in politics.
The level of political understanding of persons with a migration background is virtually identical to that of persons with no migration background when it comes to understanding political points. The majority in both groups rarely or never has any problems when it comes to understanding political points. With regard to forming an opinion on political topics, persons with no migration background and persons of the second generation are convinced of their understanding to a roughly equal degree.
Contact
The pattern with regard to identification with a party is comparable among persons with and without a migration background. Migrants and their descendants prefer the major popular parties CDU/CSU and SPD. Alliance 90/The Greens come third with them, ahead of the liberal FDP party and socialist die Linke party. The country of origin influences preference for a party: Persons from Turkey and other guestworkers’ countries of origin are more likely to identify with the SPD social democratic party, whilst those from the successor states of the former Soviet Union tend to go for the conservative Union parties. More recent findings however suggest that these distinctions are gradually breaking down.
The results presented in the study largely come from individual calculations using the European Social Survey and the German Election Study (Deutsche Wahlstudie). The analyses focus on a retrospective of summarised average political participation in 2002 to 2008. These results were supplemented by findings from other publications.
The study was drawn up by: Stephanie Müssig and Dr. Susanne Worbs
The document is only available in German.