Kathrin Ackermann

Jenseits von Schwerkraft und Höllenfeuer. Nicht-lineare Kontexteffekte auf den Zusammenhang von religiöser Gruppenzugehörigkeit und individuellem Wahlverhalten bei fünf Bundestagswahlen

This article investigates the moderating effect of social context on the relationship between religion and vote choice. Whereas theories of electoral research and the sociology of religion assume a linear contextual effect, we develop a new theoretical argument that predicts a non-linear effect. The results of logistic multilevel analyses confirm this theory for the Catholic milieu: The effect of catholic denomination on voting for the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) first increases with the share of Catholics in the context and decreases when they are in the clear majority. This finding – which contradicts former studies – holds for all federal elections under consideration (1994-2009), withstands several robustness tests and provides important evidence for the perpetuation of the traditional Catholic voting norm through group processes.

The consequences of social intolerance on non-violent protest behavior

This paper scrutinizes the impact of intolerance toward diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural groups on an individuals willingness to actively engage in non-violent protest. Following new insights, we examine the individual as well as the ecological effect of social intolerance on protest behavior. Drawing from insights of social psychology and communication science, we expect that the prevalence of intolerance reinforces the positive effect of individual-level intolerance on protest participation. From a rational choice perspective, however, a negative moderating effect is expected, as the expression of opinions becomes redundant for intolerant individuals in an intolerant society. We base our multilevel analyses on data from the World Values Surveys covering 32 established democracies. Our results reveal that intolerance leads to more non-violent protest participation. This relationship, however, is strongly influenced by the prevalence of intolerance in a country.

The consequences of social intolerance on non-violent protest

This paper scrutinizes the impact of intolerance toward diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural groups on an individuals willingness to actively engage in non-violent protest. Following new insights, we examine the individual as well as the ecological effect of social intolerance on protest behavior. Drawing from insights of social psychology and communication science, we expect that the prevalence of intolerance reinforces the positive effect of individual-level intolerance on protest participation. From a rational choice perspective, however, a negative moderating effect is expected, as the expression of opinions becomes redundant for intolerant individuals in an intolerant society. We base our multilevel analyses on data from the World Values Surveys covering 32 established democracies. Our results reveal that intolerance leads to more non-violent protest participation. This relationship, however, is strongly influenced by the prevalence of intolerance in a country.

Online volunteering as a means to overcome unequal participation? The profiles of online and offline volunteers compared

A key question regarding the ongoing process of digitalization is whether it enables societies to overcome patterns of inequality or whether these patterns are fostered in the digital sphere. The article addresses this question for the case of online volunteering by examining the profiles of online and offline volunteers in terms of sociodemographics, resources, networks, and psychological engagement. We apply quantitative methods using a unique data set that provides comprehensive information on online volunteering. Our results suggest that two mechanisms are at work simultaneously: mobilization and reinforcement. The profile of “pure” online volunteers differs from the profile of “pure” offline volunteers (mobilization). Meanwhile, the hybrid type combining online and offline volunteering attracts individuals resembling offline (reinforcement) and online volunteers (mobilization). Thus, online volunteering seems to be both: a remedy for existing inequalities in volunteering and a way to reinforce existing patterns of social participation in increasingly digitized societies.

Logics of Educational Stratification: A Cross-National Map of Educational Inequality

Equality of education is often seen as the fundament of the overall equality of opportunity in modern societies. However, no reliable and comprehensive cross-national comparison of educational inequality hitherto exists. The aim of the present paper is to provide a cross-national comparative outline of diverse dimensions of educational inequality in the OECD world. We estimate the effects of three highly influential aspects of socioeconomic background on educational achievement in each OECD country in order to create a ranking of educational inequality in 30 capitalist countries. The central finding is that we indeed cannot identify a single cross-national ranking but three dimensions of education inequality: educational inequality based on economic, educational, and migration background at home. Capitalist economies thus do not only differ with regard to the degree of inequality but, first and foremost concerning the predominant patterns of inequality and the main distributive keys.

Social Capital in der Vergleichenden Politikwissenschaft

Sozialkapital stellt ein bedeutendes Konzept innerhalb der Vergleichenden Politikwissenschaft dar. Basierend auf den Arbeiten von Bourdieu (1983), Coleman (1990) und Putnam (1993, 2000) beschreibt es den Wert sozialer Beziehungen. Der vorliegende Beitrag gibt einen Uberblick uber aktuelle konzeptionelle Debatten in diesem Forschungsfeld sowie uber empirische Befunde zum Bestand, zu den Bedingungen und Wirkungen von Sozialkapital.

Zur neuen Relevanz des sozialen Kontexts für das Wahlverhalten. Antwort auf die kritischen Anmerkungen von Franz Urban Pappi

Wir antworten auf die Kritik an unserem Artikel (Ackermann u. Traunmuller 2014) und argumentieren, dass Theorien uber die abnehmende Bedeutung sozial-struktureller Merkmale fur das Wahlverhalten fehlgeleitet sind. Stattdessen interessiert uns die gehaltvollere Frage, wie und unter welchen Bedingungen sie politisch wirksam werden. Diese Theorieperspektive offnet den Blick fur regionale und temporale Variation sozialer Einflussprozesse, welche gangigen Ansichten zum Cleavage-Voting widersprechen. Wir unterstutzen unser Argument, indem wir demonstrieren, dass soziale Kontexte fur das individuelle Wahlverhalten heutzutage wichtiger sind als noch vor Jahrzehnten. Abschliesend diskutieren wir weiterfuhrende Implikationen fur soziale Kontextanalysen des Wahlverhaltens.