Democracy could be so easy. People inform themselves, contribute with their opinions and expertise, choose others in parliaments and committees - and in the end there is usually a more or less clever compromise.
But what happens when this basically simple mechanism stutters? If the same people always make decisions that more and more people are not making decisions about? What if entire groups of the population feel overwhelmed or ignored by politics - that is, if what is lost, what experts call "political self-efficacy"?
On the basis of a representative survey, a research team investigated the question of how people in Germany perceive their political self-efficacy - and what are the possible consequences. In an interview, Cornelia Schu explains the key findings of the study.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Ms Schu, what do citizens in Germany think about politicians?
Schu: The majority of people say: I understand politics and I dare to participate in discussions about it. However, a majority also doubts that politics is listening to them. It makes a big difference whether someone has a migration background or not.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What has this got to do with it?
Schu: Immigrants are less willing to dare, they value their political competences less well. But there is an integration effect: people understand better each year how the system works and can better classify political parties.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What about the feeling of being taken seriously with your own concerns?
Schu: There is a surprising result: Immigrants are at first more optimistic than locals, before many start feeling disillusioned. The majority of people in the country, whether immigrant or non-migrant, do not feel represented. "They are not interested in us" is a widespread feeling.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: A feeling, according to your study, that migrants get bigger over the years.
Schu: Yes, and that's not good news. That may be because many come to Germany because of the political system and are therefore even more optimistic at the beginning. This is called the "honeymoon effect": who is new, sees things more positively - and this optimism fades with time.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What consequences does that have?
Schu: Studies show that the assessment of one's own political competences has an effect on voting behavior, for example - which is also understandable: anyone who does not understand politics well and believes that being able to change anything does not contribute socially less. Political participation, however, means much more than just casting a vote: a lot is happening in clubs and parties on the ground.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: So society is becoming more diverse, but democracy is not?
Schu: At any rate, there are population groups that have little confidence in politics and society - women, for example. Eighty-five percent of non-migrant men say they are good at assessing important political issues. Of the women without a migration background, only 76 percent say that among female immigrants the figure is only 67 percent. That's a difference of nearly 20 percentage points to the male natives.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Is our society too focused on white men?
Schu: Such an immediate cause can not be derived from it. Research has shown that women are also more cautious in other areas. Men with and without a migrant background are very similar in their ability to understand politics. So it's not all about white men, I would say sex is a deciding factor. Besides, education makes a difference.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What do you mean?
Schu: The more knowledge and competencies a person has, the better he or she values their own political abilities. Highly educated people without a migration background, for example, dare to do more than 90 percent to assess important political issues. For the low-educated peer group say that only about 76 percent. An important point, because only those who understand what our society is about will be involved in the long run.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Let's get back to the women: they value their abilities much lower, although Germany has long been ruled by a Chancellor.
Schu: Yes, but in the Bundestag, the proportion of female MPs is only 31 percent. There are no female role models, women show that politics is also something for them. And this representation gap exists in many committees, even in the municipalities. It is not satisfactorily democratic enough that such a large population group is underrepresented. Moreover, women, whether migrant or non-migrant, are simply an underestimated resource.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: To what extent?
Schu: Not even every second migrant dares to participate in political talks. Yet a conversation is still a rather low-threshold form of social participation: how should a woman in a town hall meeting take the floor, which would not even do this in private?
more on the subject
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Many immigrants come from more patriarchal societies in which women play a subordinate role.
Schu: Family role models are certainly an important factor - just as in the German population. However, studies also show that immigrant women in particular are interested in education or work. Therefore, in job centers, integration courses or schools one should approach women more specifically and point out perspectives.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Are there any particular ethnic groups among the migrants who are particularly self-confident or insecure?
Schu: The skepticism among Turkish people is comparatively high, they dare less. This is probably also related to the level of education, many do not have a higher degree. This has something to do with the history of the guest workers: From Turkey, initially only the low-skilled have immigrated.
Details on the survey
Who is behind the study?
The so-called policy letter "With politics on you and you?" was published by the German Advisory Council on Integration and Migration (SVR) and the DeZIM Institute of the German Center for Integration and Migration Research. The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth promoted the study by authors Timo Tonassi, Alex Wittlif and Magdalena Nowicka.
Who was questioned?
The study is based on data from the "Integration Barometer", for which, between July 2017 and January 2018, the study authors interviewed 9,298 people aged 15 or over: 2720 non-immigrant, 1,438 Aussiedler and Spätaussiedler, 1479 Turkish, 1,532 immigrants from the EU and 1760 migrants from other parts of the world.
Is the survey representative?
Yes, for the following groups: people with and without a migrant background, Aussiedler and Aussiedler, Turks and immigrants from the EU and other regions of the world. The immigrant group has been weighted to match the ratio in the population. In addition, each source group was individually adjusted to the actual situation in the total population on the basis of selected characteristics (such as education, age, gender).
How was questioned?
Bilingual interviewers carried out the survey by telephone using the telephone number pool of the Arbeitskreis Deutscher Markt- und Sozialforschungsinstitute - in German, English, Turkish, Russian, Farsi and Arabic.
Which companies participated in the survey?
Apart from the conducting market research institute BIK Aschpurwis + Behrens, no companies were directly involved. The German Advisory Council on Integration and Migration is an initiative of seven foundations: Robert Bosch Foundation, Volkswagen Foundation, Freudenberg Foundation, Bertelsmann Foundation, Vodafone Foundation, Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, Stiftung Mercator. The DeZIM Institute is a federally funded research institution.
Were there quality controls?
The questionnaires were subjected to a cognitive pretest in each language and then tested under field conditions. A comprehensive method report is available here.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Right-wing protagonists spread the thesis that "those up there" would disregard the will of ordinary people - does that also get in the way of immigrants who do not feel heard?
Schu: That would be obvious, populist parties are actually trying to profit from this development. Our data shows, however, that low-skilled immigrants do not have an increased inclination to AfD. Nevertheless, it is a serious problem that many people lose the connection to politics.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Is democracy in crisis?
Schu: I would not go that far. But although an overwhelming majority support democracy in general, many are apparently dissatisfied with the concrete implementation. To change that, MEPs, schools and local communities are in demand: politics needs to be more understandable and more participatory.