Duration: 02/2016 until 09/2022

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the economic shock in Central Eastern Europe (CEE) after the transformation was still tolerated, but with accession to the EU, it became clear that the expected level of prosperity would not be achieved for a long time. Nevertheless, the political systems of CEE could be considered consolidated. Recent developments in CEE are worrying: in Hungary, as in Poland, it is evident that anti-liberal parties are breaking the liberal consensus. These parties take up the dilemma of the expected development of prosperity and blame liberal democracy for this. Therefore, this thesis aims to assess to what extent effects are present between the different levels of political support and how inequality affects political support in consolidated liberal democracies in CEE.

For the purpose of this work, the origins of the theories of political support, political culture, empirical democracy research, and consolidation theory are linked. By analyzing three waves of the European Social Survey (2004, 2012, and 2018), it is possible to look at the development over time. First, in comparing the regions within states, items on political support are considered, making the first internal differences visible. Second, individual and regional effects on political support are tested in multi-level-models.

The results show that the expected effects are confirmed at the individual level: people who show lower support at the lower levels of political support also show lower support at the upper level. In part, an interaction effect from the respective lower levels and from the outcome assessment on the higher levels could be confirmed. Furthermore, although regional differences between the top/bottom regions could be made visible, the multi-level-models did not show any apparent effect of economic development. Instead of objective economic criteria, the subjective assessment is decisive. Furthermore, it could be shown that the proportion of dissatisfaction is an important explanatory factor for the level of political support and that support for emancipatory attitudes within a region also has an evident influence on political support.

The additional material of the entire work is available as an online appendix at JLUpubs under the following DOI: http:/dx.doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-6455. The material can also be viewed at short notice under this link.