Duality of the Electoral and Legal Culture and Political Communication in the Elections of the Landtag of Prussia (1849–1918)

Abstract

Introduction: based on a wide range of historical sources about the elections of the Landtag of Prussia in 1849–1918, an attempt is made to examine the electoral and legal culture through the prism of political communication. The aim of the research is a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between the communication processes and the level of electoral and legal culture of Prussian residents in 1849–1918. Results: the paper substantiates the conclusion that the study of political culture should not be limited to the analysis of the level of participation, but it is necessary to equally study political behavior in a very broad sense, since both are inextricably linked. On the example of the election campaigns to the Landtag of Prussia in 1849–1918 it is noted that the rejection of the current situation in the state leads to a decrease in the level of public participation in the elections, while low turnout is not always a consequence of an insufficient level of electoral and legal culture. Conclusions: the political and legal culture of the inhabitants of Prussia, their legendary habit of observing the law, had a decisive influence on the choice of the type of political communication. The Prussians, preferring legal forms of political communication, thereby confirmed their faith in the law, in the institution of elections. Political communication should not be limited to periodic voting. Citizens should be given the rights to influence the functioning of the state. If these requirements are not met, the legal types of political communication, even with a sufficiently high level of legal culture of the population, are replaced by semi-legal and illegal ones, and the reformist mode of activity of political forces is changed to a revolutionary one.