German politicians invest in opera when seeking re-election - here's why
In The Conversation, DaWS Professor Pieter Vanhuysse presents the results from a study with Prof. Markus Tepe. Considering that the theatre and the opera are mostly part of an elitist culture, the researchers asked the question of how this would factor in electoral strategies.
"We believe that politicians will strategically manipulate subsidies for highbrow culture and hire more artists when they are aiming to be reelected. They do this because they want to use artists as conduits of indirect competence signals aimed, through them, at their audiences. In other words, politicians want to please highbrow culture consumers by hiring more artists for them to watch or hear – during election times.
These audiences – highbrow culture-consuming voters – are obviously more numerous than the artists themselves. But they are politically even more important than their numbers.
Sociologically speaking, highbrow culture consumers are what we call “high-multiplier” voters. Theatre and opera visitors are more likely to be consummate “political animals” themselves. Compared to other demographics, they are particularly likely to turn out to vote and to otherwise actively participate in politics."