Michael Bergmann, Laura Konzelmann, Hans Rattinger
Deutschland auf dem Weg in die "Rentner-Demokratie"? - Eine empirische Untersuchung altersspezifischer Einstellungsunterschiede und ihrer Bedeutung für das Wahlverhalten auf Basis einer aktuellen Bevölkerungsumfrage

Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 2012: 53, Heft 3, S. 371-393

Demographic change is one of the biggest challenges with regard to social and economic developments in Germany. The public debate mainly focuses on negative effects for social security systems. However, analyzing potential results of an ageing population for political attitudes and political behavior of the citizenry does not play a major role in scientific research so far. Based on a recent survey this article first examines age-specific differences in individual political attitudes. Second, we analyze possible determinants of age-specific party vote choice. We find age-specific attitudes, which – at least in part – do have an impact on party choice.