The Consequences of Punishing Political Ideologies in Democracies – Evidence from Employment Bans in West Germany

What is the effect of states banning political ideologies? We argue that such policies canopen the space for new political challengers to break through by mobilizing against the policy.Empirically, we study the Anti-Radical Decree in West Germany, which allowed the state to banradical individuals (mainly radical left) from public sector work. We collect an original dataset ofindividuals banned by the policy, which we merge with survey data and official electoral results.At the individual level, we show that citizens who voice opposition to the bans are more likely tosupport the emerging Green party. At the aggregate level, counties that experienced bans aremore likely to protest them, and subsequently witness higher vote shares for the Greens. Effectheterogeneity is in line with our theoretical expectations. Our findings suggest that policiesrendering ideologies illegal can fuel support for new parties of the targeted ideological camp.