In touch with politics? How people with and without a migration background perceive their political self-efficacy
Policy Brief | April 2019
Currently, around one fifth of the German population has a migration background, and that share is set to continue rising. That is why, when it comes to ensuring that democratic decisions get broad backing, it is important that both people with and those without a migration background are willing to actively participate in political life. Whether they actually do so or not depends, among other things, on how people perceive their political self-efficacy, that is to what extent the two groups believe they both understand political issues on the one hand and feel that politicians are actually interested in people’s concerns on the other. To investigate this issue further, as part of a cooperation project with the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM Institute) the Expert Council’s Research Unit therefore analysed data from a nationwide survey conducted between July 2017 and January 2018 for the 2018 Integration Barometer. More than 9,000 people with and without a migration background were surveyed. The data collected are representative both for these two groups and for specific groups of origin. The Policy Brief was sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ).
