About
I am professor of Political Science at the University of Mainz.
My main research interests are the comparative analysis of micro data and comparative political sociology,elections and electoral behaviour, Extreme Right / Radical Right / Populist Right parties in Europe, German Politics, and Research Methods and the Sociology of Knowledge.
Contact
Recent Publications / Working Papers
- Arzheimer, Kai. “Elektorat(e) rechter Flügelparteien.” Handbuch Rechtsextremismus. Eds. Häusler, Alexander, Cordelia Hess, Anke Hoffstad, and Florian Virchow. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 2023. .
[BibTeX] [Download PDF] [HTML]@InCollection{arzheimer-2023a, author = {Arzheimer, Kai}, title = {Elektorat(e) rechter Flügelparteien}, booktitle = {Handbuch Rechtsextremismus}, publisher = {Springer VS}, year = 2023, editor = {Häusler, Alexander and Hess, Cordelia and Hoffstad, Anke and Virchow, Florian}, html = {https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/elektorat-rechte-parteien}, url = {https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/waehler-rechter-parteien.pdf}, address = {Wiesbaden}, } - Arzheimer, Kai. “Quantitative Methoden zur Erforschung von rechtsextremistischem / rechtsradikalem / rechtspopulistischem Wahlverhalten.” Handbuch Rechtsextremismus. Eds. Häusler, Alexander, Cordelia Hess, Anke Hoffstad, and Florian Virchow. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 2023. .
[BibTeX] [Download PDF] [HTML]@InCollection{arzheimer-2023b, author = {Arzheimer, Kai}, title = {Quantitative Methoden zur Erforschung von rechtsextremistischem / rechtsradikalem / rechtspopulistischem Wahlverhalten}, booktitle = {Handbuch Rechtsextremismus}, publisher = {Springer VS}, year = 2023, editor = {Häusler, Alexander and Hess, Cordelia and Hoffstad, Anke and Virchow, Florian}, address = {Wiesbaden}, url = {https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/quantitative-methoden-rechtsradikal-wahlverhalten.pdf}, html = {https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/quantitative-methoden-rechtsextremismus}, } - Arzheimer, Kai. “Im Osten nichts Neues? Die elektorale Unterstützung von AfD und Linkspartei in den alten und neuen Bundesländern bei der Bundestagswahl 2021.” Wahlen und Wähler – Analysen aus Anlass der Bundestagwahl 2021. Eds. Schoen, Harald and Bernhard Wessels. Wiesbaden: Springer, 2023. .
[BibTeX] [Download PDF] [HTML]@InCollection{arzheimer-2023c, author = {Arzheimer, Kai}, title = {Im Osten nichts Neues? Die elektorale Unterstützung von AfD und Linkspartei in den alten und neuen Bundesländern bei der Bundestagswahl 2021}, booktitle = {Wahlen und Wähler - Analysen aus Anlass der Bundestagwahl 2021}, publisher = {Springer}, year = 2023, editor = {Schoen, Harald and Wessels, Bernhard}, address = {Wiesbaden}, url = {https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/bundestagswahl-2021-ostdeutschland-linkspartei-afd.pdf}, html = {https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/bundestagswahl-2021-ostdeutschland-linkspartei-afd/}, dateadded = {14-11-2022} } - Arzheimer, Kai. “The Links between Basic Human Values and Political Secularism. Evidence from Germany.” European Journal of Political Research (2023): forthcoming. doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12585
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [HTML] [DATA]Scholarly interest in political secularism is currently growing. Political secularism is not the absence of religious belief, membership, or practice, but the conviction that politics and religion should be kept separate, and that religious arguments should have no standing in political debates. Little is known about the roots of this attitude, particularly outside the US. This is unfortunate, because politically secular attitudes strongly affect citizens’ views on so-called morality policies (e.g. the regulation of abortion, assisted suicide, or experiments with stem-cells) which are often highly controversial. In this research note, I focus on the link between political secularism and basic human values. From Schwartz’s own work and from the extant literatures on religion, secularism, and basic human values, I derive two hypotheses: self-direction should be linked to higher levels and tradition should be linked to lower levels of political secularism. Multivariate analysis of current survey data from Germany, a prototypical “religious-world country”, supports both hypotheses. Crucially, the relationships hold when controlling for three main facets of religion, for region (east vs west), and for socio-demographics. The results show that, net of their well-documented association with religion, basic human values contribute to our understanding of political secularism. More generally, the findings demonstrate once more the impact of basic human values on all areas of political life.
@Article{arzheimer-2023d, author = {Arzheimer, Kai}, title = {The Links between Basic Human Values and Political Secularism. Evidence from Germany}, journal = {European Journal of Political Research}, pages = {forthcoming}, year = 2023, abstract = {Scholarly interest in political secularism is currently growing. Political secularism is not the absence of religious belief, membership, or practice, but the conviction that politics and religion should be kept separate, and that religious arguments should have no standing in political debates. Little is known about the roots of this attitude, particularly outside the US. This is unfortunate, because politically secular attitudes strongly affect citizens' views on so-called morality policies (e.g. the regulation of abortion, assisted suicide, or experiments with stem-cells) which are often highly controversial. In this research note, I focus on the link between political secularism and basic human values. From Schwartz's own work and from the extant literatures on religion, secularism, and basic human values, I derive two hypotheses: self-direction should be linked to higher levels and tradition should be linked to lower levels of political secularism. Multivariate analysis of current survey data from Germany, a prototypical "religious-world country", supports both hypotheses. Crucially, the relationships hold when controlling for three main facets of religion, for region (east vs west), and for socio-demographics. The results show that, net of their well-documented association with religion, basic human values contribute to our understanding of political secularism. More generally, the findings demonstrate once more the impact of basic human values on all areas of political life.}, data = {https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/Z8VYBK}, html = {https://ejpr.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1475-6765.12585?af=R}, pdf = {https://ejpr.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1475-6765.12585}, doi = {10.1111/1475-6765.12585}, dateadded = {01-03-2023} } - Arzheimer, Kai. “A short scale for measuring political secularism.” Politics and Religion 15.4 (2022): 827-840. doi:10.1017/S1755048322000104
[BibTeX] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [HTML] [DATA]As religiousness is declining across democracies, scientific interest in secular orientations and their political implications is growing. One specific and particularly important aspect of secular attitudes is political secularism. Political secularism is not merely the absence of religiousness, but rather a world view which holds that religious beliefs should play no role in politics. While there are hundreds of survey instruments that measure the strength and content of religiousness, there is no comparable measure that taps into political secularism. In this research note, I briefly review the concept of political secularism and present a cluster of items which target it. Utilising data from four large population representative samples taken in the eastern and western states of Germany, I use Confirmatory Factor Analysis to show that these items form a short but internally consistent scale. This scale also displays convergent and discriminant validity. It may be readily used in future surveys.
@Article{arzheimer-2022, author = {Arzheimer, Kai}, title = {A short scale for measuring political secularism}, journal = {Politics and Religion}, year = 2022, volume = {15}, number = {4}, pages = {827-840}, abstract = {As religiousness is declining across democracies, scientific interest in secular orientations and their political implications is growing. One specific and particularly important aspect of secular attitudes is political secularism. Political secularism is not merely the absence of religiousness, but rather a world view which holds that religious beliefs should play no role in politics. While there are hundreds of survey instruments that measure the strength and content of religiousness, there is no comparable measure that taps into political secularism. In this research note, I briefly review the concept of political secularism and present a cluster of items which target it. Utilising data from four large population representative samples taken in the eastern and western states of Germany, I use Confirmatory Factor Analysis to show that these items form a short but internally consistent scale. This scale also displays convergent and discriminant validity. It may be readily used in future surveys.}, dateadded = {22-12-2021}, doi = {10.1017/S1755048322000104}, url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/21DBFFEAB1631615697BBC3CC5FD5128/S1755048322000104a.pdf/a-short-scale-for-measuring-political-secularism.pdf}, data = {https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/XEKNYW}, html = {https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/scale-political-secularism}, } - Rothmund, Tobias and Kai Arzheimer. “Politische Ideologien.” Politische Psychologie. Handbuch für Studium und Wissenschaft. Eds. Zmerli, Sonja and Ofer Feldman. 2 ed. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2022. 149-173.
[BibTeX]@InCollection{rothmund-arzheimer-2022c, author = {Rothmund, Tobias and Arzheimer, Kai}, title = {Politische Ideologien}, booktitle = {Politische Psychologie. Handbuch für Studium und Wissenschaft}, publisher = {Nomos}, year = 2022, edition = {2}, editor = {Zmerli, Sonja and Feldman, Ofer}, pages = {149-173}, address = {Baden-Baden} } - Arzheimer, Kai. “(International) Comparative Political Sociology.” The Encyclopedia of Political Sociology. Eds. Grasso, Maria and Marco Giugni. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2022. .
[BibTeX] [Download PDF] [HTML]@InCollection{arzheimer-2022b, author = {Arzheimer, Kai}, title = {(International) Comparative Political Sociology}, booktitle = {The Encyclopedia of Political Sociology}, publisher = {Edward Elgar}, year = 2022, editor = {Maria Grasso and Marco Giugni}, address = {Cheltenham}, dateadded = {01-02-2022}, html = {https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/international-comparative-political-sociology}, url = {https://www.kai-arzheimer.com/international-comparative-political-sociology.pdf}}
Click here for my full list of publications.
Consultancy
- Media: I regularly comment on German and European parties and their voters, and on political extremism.
- Research Methods: I have been teaching methods, statistics and software in academic settings since 1996 and offer consultancy and in-house seminars.