Democracy and Society

Under its new name, Citizens' Benefit (Bürgergeld), Germany’s reformed unemployment benefit was supposed to put basic benefits for job-seekers on a new footing and fulfil the political promise to "overcome" its controversial predecessor known, after its original sponsor’s final proposal, as ‘Hartz IV’.

Matthias Diermeier/ Jan Felix Engler / Holger Schäfer IW

Buffalo (New York) and Dortmund (North Rhine Westphalia) as well as Akron (Ohio) and Chemnitz (Saxony) are twin cities that share the history of deindustrialization. At the same time, they experienced rapid population growth and a globalization shock in the middle and end (East Germany) of the twentieth century. The structural change in the Rust Belt was accompanied by economic upheavals, which is still reflected in today’s reluctance for electoral participation. In this respect, social security and regional policy have had a stabilizing effect in Germany.

Ruth Maria Schüler / Matthias Diermeier IW

The rise of populist radical right parties (PRRPs) is largely seen to have been triggered by a dealignment between voters and political elites and to have triggered an increasing supply of misinformation.

Matthias Diermeier at European Political Science Review IW