The Influence of Poverty on Political Preferences, Apathy and Radicalisation

The phenomenon of political exclusion and the propensity for radicalisation among economically disadvantaged citizens represent a persistent research conundrum in the domain of social science. The present dissertation explores the manner in which childhood poverty and social class influence patterns of political participation and political preferences, with a particular focus on the interplay of resources, cultural capital, and socialisation. The initial chapter of this dissertation situates it within the relevant literature and highlights the main contributions. In the subsequent three chapters, an analysis of panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) is conducted for two purposes: firstly, to explore the mechanisms underlying political disengagement, and secondly, to investigate potential pathways to increased engagement. In the second chapter, the results of the first study are presented, which demonstrate that childhood poverty has a negative impact on electoral participation in adulthood, particularly when combined with additional risks of political exclusion. The chapter demonstrates that children from disadvantaged backgrounds, with parents who are politically disinterested or less educated, are significantly less likely to vote as adults. The findings further illustrate the role of gender disparities, showing that women from impoverished backgrounds face additional barriers to political engagement due to traditional gender norms. Finally, children who experience poverty for the duration of the observation period exhibit a significantly lower voting frequency compared to children who demonstrate mobility in their poverty status. The third chapter explores the potential of youth volunteering to mobilise politically disengaged working-class children, with a view to encouraging voting among this demographic as adults. It demonstrates that, while a higher social class background correlates with increased electoral participation from the outset, volunteering uniquely benefits working-class youth, fostering their electoral engagement. Despite controlling for individual personality types and parental political interest, volunteering remains a significant factor. The longitudinal findings are confirmed upon application of propensity score matching, thereby underscoring the transformative potential of early civic engagement for disadvantaged groups. The fourth and final chapter of this dissertation investigates the question of whether class background and/or current class of occupation influence political tendencies, party identification and, finally, electoral choices in German federal elections. In recent years, populist parties have experienced a notable surge in electoral success, with their primary focus being on the tale of mobilising disaffected members of society. A higher propensity to vote for right-wing parties is observed among working-class citizens. However, a divergence in the relationship between class of origin and class of destination with regard to political tendencies is also evident. Finally, class-based electoral support for right-wing political parties undergoes changes with electoral cycles.