The long-term impact of the location of concentration camps on radical right voting in Germany

Hoerner, Julian, Jaax, Alexander and Rodon, Toni (2019) The long-term impact of the location of concentration camps on radical right voting in Germany. Research and Politics, 6 (4). ISSN 2053-1680

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Abstract

Of all atrocities committed by state actors in 20th century Europe, the systematic killings by Nazi Germany were arguably the most severe and best documented. While several studies have investigated the impact of the presence of concentration camps on surrounding communities in Germany and the occupied territories in terms of redistribution of wealth and property, the local-level impact on voting behaviour has not yet been explored. We investigated the impact of spatial proximity to a concentration camp between 1933 and 1945 on the likelihood of voting for far-right parties in the 2013 and 2017 federal elections. We find that proximity to a former concentration camp is associated with a higher vote share of such parties. A potential explanation for this finding could be a ‘memory satiation effect’, according to which voters who live in close proximity to former camps and are more frequently confronted with the past are more receptive to revisionist historical accounts questioning the centrality of the Holocaust in the German culture of remembrance.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	European Institute Government Geography & Environment Spatial Economics Research Centre International Relations International Development School of Public Policy ?? SCPP ??
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2019 12:48
Last Modified:	16 Apr 2024 19:42
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/102569

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