Political Interest, Participation and Affect in Representative Democracies

Project Directors Prof. Dr. Jan W. van Deth Project Staff Martin Elff DFG / MZES-funded 1996 – 2000

Research question/goal:

The present research project aims at the explanation of differences in the level of political interest of citizens in representative democracies. Political interest is defined here as a person's curiosity to learn more about political events. It is planned to develop a model of political interest that combines explanatory factors at the individual and the contextual level. Especially the effects of the politicisation of society by activities of the state shall be examined.

Publications

Book Chapters

  • Niedermayer, Oskar, Bettina Westle (Eds.) van Deth, Jan W. (2000): Das Leben, nicht die Politik ist wichtig. 115-400. Wiesbaden, Westdeutscher Verlag. More

Journal Articles

  • van Deth, Jan W. (2000): Interesting but irrelevant: Social capital and the saliency of politics in Western Europe. European Journal of Political Research, 37, 115-147. More
  • van Deth, Jan W. (2000): Political interest and apathy: the decline of a gender gap?. Acta Politica, 35, 2, 247-274. More

MZES Working Papers

  • van Deth, Jan W., Martin Elff (2001): Politicisation and Political Interest in Europe: A Multi-Level Approach. 36, Mannheim, MZES. More
  • van Deth, Jan W., Martin Elff (2000): Political Involvement and Apathy in Europe 1973 - 1998. 33, Mannheim, MZES. More