Sports Clubs and Populism: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from German Cities

Mona Foertsch and Felix Roesel

No 10259, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Does social capital always promote solidarity and democracy, or are social networks such as sports clubs also vulnerable to populism? We exploit quasi-experimental variation in sports club membership in German cities. Sports clubs are booming in cities with successful soccer teams which pass the promotion threshold for a higher division, but not where teams marginally missed on promotion. Difference-in-differences estimations show that far-right populists enjoy more support in cities with higher sports club membership rates in the wake of marginally promoted soccer teams. The populist momentum is however rather short-living, indicating that sports clubs intensify group polarization but are not a spot of permanent radicalization.

Keywords: social capital; sports clubs; populism; Gemany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D71 D72 Z20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-soc, nep-spo and nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10259

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