Do Political Efficacy and Socio-Political Culture Transmit Through History? Evidence on the Prussian Legacy

Abstract

Since about two decades, a growing strand of literature seeks to delve deep into the topic of historical institutional frameworks to gain insight into the origins of peoples' norms and perceptions as well as contemporary economic developments. In this vein, this study presents new evidence for a Prussian legacy in terms of a persistently lower level of political efficacy and a socio-political culture with less appealing characteristics of the democratic citizen. It is hypothesised that the elitist and absolute bureaucratic state of Prussia which was largely forged under military objectives, sustainably reduced citizens' competence and self-confidence in the realms of politics and social life. Relying on SOEP survey data, the proposed hypothesis is tested employing spatial regression discontinuity techniques. The results support the claim of the long-run persistence of Prussian cultural norms. Various robustness and falsification tests corroborate the findings.