Socialism's Legacy: The Impact of Political Socialization on Citizens' Conceptions of Democracy

A certain overlap between the democratic conceptions of citizens and the characteristics of the democratic system is crucial for satisfaction with democracy and thus democratic stability. Generally, literature suggests that the support for liberal democratic values is higher for citizens that have been socialized in a democratic system. In the German case, evidence shows that even 20 years after reunification, citizens socialized in the former GDR show a higher commitment to socialist values. More recently, a populist conception of democracy has gained popularity in Germany and among East Germans in particular, resulting in high vote shares for the populist AfD. However, it is unclear to what extent political socialization shapes this support, and to what extent younger generations, socialized in the democratic system of a unified Germany, differ in their support for socialist or populist ideas. Using data from Round 10 of the European Social Survey, the paper tests cohort and socialization effects on three democratic conceptions: a liberal, a socialist, and a populist understanding of democracy. The results show that political socialization and belonging to a certain birth cohort have ambiguous effects depending on the democratic conception. Contrary to previous findings, holding a socialist conception of democracy is not determined by socialization within a socialist system. Instead, Germans socialized in the former GDR are more likely to hold a populist conception of democracy than those socialized in a liberal democracy. Younger generations show a lower commitment to populist, but also to liberal democratic values. While understandings of democracy are converging for young Germans socialized in the same democratic system, it remains to be seen how the low support for a liberal democratic understanding among the youth as well as the high support for a populist conception of democracy among older generations in East Germany will shape the German political system in the long run.