Parteiidentifikation in Deutschland: Eine empirische Fundierung des Konzeptes auf Basis der Theorie Sozialer Identität
Politische Vierteljahresschrift, (2012)Abstract
In this article we strive to specify the empirical foundations of the concept of party identification. For social identity we develop theoretical considerations, suggest operationalizations and collect data for a sample which is representative for the whole of Germany. It can be shown that an affective dimension of social identity can be measured with high internal consistency. Moreover, the indicators for social identity are, overall, systematically related with the intensity of party identification. Finally, for the affective dimension of party attachment plausible relationships with external measures such as political interest are found. Our empirical analyses give some indications that social identity may in fact be one of the foundations of party identification in Germany.