Research question/goal:

While the deliberative turn in democratic theory has stimulated growing interest in the role of political discussions for the quality of democratic politics, research has long paid little attention to citizens’ informal conversations about politics. Against this background, the project aimed to provide a comprehensive account of everyday political communication—as the most fundamental form of political communication and a core component of the deliberative system of democracy—in Germany. 

The project combined a local two-wave panel survey of a random sample of voters with a snowball survey of political discussants. The surveys were conducted before and after the 2017 federal election. To analyse the data from a systemic perspective, an analytical typology was developed that distinguishes four arenas of political conversation among citizens: informal conversations 1) within the context of “strong ties” of kinship and friendship, 2) within the context of “weak ties” between mere acquaintances and 3) outside social networks between people who are strangers to each other, and 4) structured discussions within the context of organized public events.

The project’s findings were published in several journal articles and two doctoral dissertations. The project yielded extensive descriptive findings on how people discuss politics in their everyday lives, with a special focus on deliberative orientations. Using perspectives from participation research and political psychology, the project examined the conditions that are important for everyday political communication in general and for its deliberative quality in particular. Political interest and conflict orientations were identified as dominant influencing factors. Furthermore, the consequences of citizens’ everyday conversations for democratic politics were analysed, with a focus on civic orientations, legitimacy beliefs, and various forms of political participation. 

Overall, the findings justify cautious optimism regarding the deliberative potential of everyday political communication. From a deliberative perspective, however, the strong position of communication within the context of “strong ties” and obvious deficits regarding the central criterion of political equality appear rather problematic.