Growing up on Different Sides of the Wall: A Quasi-Experimental Test of Ideological Consistency in the German Mass Public.

This paper utilizes survey data from the 1999 European Value Study to conduct a quasi-experimental analysis of the relationship between ideological consistency and policy preferences of Germany's mass public. Given Germany's division until 1990 it is plausible that respondents from East and West Germany grew up with different socializations in both systems, albeit a common language and cultural background. This paper models the influence of this diverse experience on ideological thinking, and examines the effects on the understanding of political issues. We argue that respondents' stances on policy preferences can be predicted from their left-right self-placement. The findings suggest that huge differences do exist in the ideological coherence and attitude structuring of respondents. Citizens in the East seem to understand the term 'left' quite well compared to Western Germans who lack giving consistent answers to a 'left' ideological position. On the other hand, Eastern Germans face difficulties in applying the term 'right' in a meaningful way. These results have crucial implications for recent debates about the structuring of beliefs and relevance of ideological thinking in the mass public, the use of ideological labels in the elite discourse as well as political communication. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]