Hysteresis and Selection in the Rise of Fascism: The ‘Ordinary Men’ of the Nazi Party

Luis Bosshart (), Max Deter, Leander Heldring (), Cathrin Mohr () and Matthias Weigand ()
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Luis Bosshart: Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies
Leander Heldring: Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management
Cathrin Mohr: Kiel Institute for the World Economy, University of Hamburg
Matthias Weigand: Harvard University

No 100, CEPA Discussion Papers from Center for Economic Policy Analysis

Abstract: We digitize and analyze the near-universe of National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) membership records and link them to population and industrial censuses. Four findings emerge. First, as the party expanded, its membership came to resemble the broader population more closely in occupational, demographic, and religious terms. Second, SS members’ characteristics remained different: younger, more educated, and more fanatical, as measured by the display of Nazi insignia in membership portraits. Third, within communities, coworkers, and families, early membership generated hysteresis, with subsequent entrants drawn from the same groups. Finally, local increases in party membership are associated with subsequent deportations of Germany’s Jews.

Keywords: Radicalization; Mass Movements; Political Economy of Extremism; Nazi Regime (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D74 N44 P16 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pot:cepadp:100

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