Leiden University Student Repository

Szkobel-Wolff, James (2024)

Does your home matter? Analysis of Housing Tenure and Political Participation in Europe

Master thesis | Political Science (MSc)

Decades of academic work argue that homeowners participate in politics at a higher rate than then their renting counterparts. Unfortunately, few have investigated what role residents of social housing play in the political process. Using administrative and voter data across 3 European cities, this thesis looks at whether voter turnout among social housing residents differs from other housing types. In addition, using data from the European Quality of Life Survey, I explore the influence housing type has on an individual’s propensity to participate in other forms of political activity. The results of both analyses fail to provide a clear understanding of the role of housing tenure in Europe generally. Instead, they point to a heterogeneous collection of approaches towards housing policy which each uniquely impact how housing choice influence politics.

Author

Szkobel-Wolff, James

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Democracy and Representation

Supervisors

Biezen, I.C. van + Meffert, M.F.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en