The Rise and Fall of National Stigmas: Evidence from Post-WWII Germany

• In Event: Historical Legacies: Tracing the Origins of Political Behavior

Abstract

New democracies tend to develop norms that stigmatize the public expression of support for the past authoritarian regime. Perhaps nowhere else has this tendency been more evident than in post-war Germany, a country marked by the legacy of the Nazi atrocities in World War II. Such has been the impact of the Nazi regime on German political culture, that it has practically delegitimized public expressions of national affinity ever since. More than half a century later, we ask how persistent this stigma is and how it changes over time. To address this question, we conduct a nation-wide representative survey of German-born adults and rely on an experimental treatment to distinguish between private preferences and their public expression. Comparisons across cohorts and between West and East Germany allow us to track the evolution of both private attitudes as well as social norms surrounding German history and national identity.

Authors

• Vasiliki Fouka, Stanford University

• Elias Dinas, European University Institute

• Daniel F. Ziblatt, Harvard University