Hitler: a campaigner with little influence?
In their study, the Konstanz-based political scientist Professor Peter Selb and his colleague, Dr Simon Munzert, analyzed the effect of Hitler’s campaigning efforts based on the election statistics collected by the municipalities and other administrative districts. Munzert had previously earned his doctorate in political science at the University of Konstanz and has since become a lecturer in political data science at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. The election statistics were supplemented by information from Hitler’s campaigning routes, NSDAP records on membership as well as records on the numbers of participants at individual events.
Locations of Hitler’s public appearances between March 1927 and March 1933 sorted by election period.
Change in percentage of NSDAP votes in counties and municipalities between the Weimar Republic’s Reichstag elections of September 1930 and July 1932. Red dots mark the locations of Hitler’s public appearances between the two election days.
Hitler’s public appearances over time between March 1927 and March 1933. He made up to five public appearances per day, with the amount increasing regularly before each election day.
Prof. Dr. Peter Selb
I am a professor of survey research and I am currently in charge of the interdisciplinary Master's program in Social and Economic Data Science (SEDS). Prior to that I had been head of the Swiss Electoral Studies (Selects) and an assistant professor for research methods here at the Department of Politics and Public Administration. I received a doctoral degree in political science from the University of Zurich and a master's degree in political science, media and communication, and economic and social history from the University of Mannheim. My research covers topics in political behavior and public opinion, often with a methodological thrust. I am regularly teaching classes in survey methodology, causal inference, and statistical modelling.
Simon Munzert is a lecturer in political science at the Hertie School of Governance. His research interests include public opinion, political representation and the role of new media in political processes. He leads the international project partnership “Paying Attention to Attention: Media Exposure and Opinion Formation in an Age of Information Overload”, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, and holds a postdoctoral scholarship from the Daimler and Benz Foundation. Munzert earned his doctorate in political science at the University of Konstanz.
