The Effects of Eventful Times on SES Gaps and Levels of Political Discussion: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from the German Reunification Period

Previous studies have established that abrupt and consequential periods of political uncertainty–or “eventful” times–impact political attitudes. But we still know little on whether events can affect political practices. I investigate how eventful times affect levels and socioeconomic status (SES) gaps in frequency of interpersonal political discussion, a consequential political practice and a high quality indicator of sustained political engagement. Drawing from citizen competence and social cognition studies, I hypothesize that events provoke political talk increases that will be moderate and unequalizing relative to SES for adults but large and equalizing for the young. I find empirical support for this expectation by evaluating differences between West Germany and France in political discussion changes before and during German Reunification. I develop and deploy an original quantitative indicator of eventfulness to show that this comparison meets difference-in-differences quasi-experimental conditions that tackles previously unaddressed validity issues related to history and ambiguous causal precedence.