The (far Too) Silent Revolution Value Change in the Federal Republic of Germany Between 1970 and 2023 Measured Using the Inglehart Index

Ronald Inglehart's theory of the Silent Revolution, first published in 1971, claims that there has been an intergenerational shift in values toward postmaterialism. The theory of the Silent Revolution, along with the measurement tool developed by Inglehart and the analytical strategy he employed, has faced massive criticism in recent decades. Inglehart, however, has largely ignored this criticism. As recently as 2019, in the book Cultural Backlash, published jointly with Pippa Norris, Inglehart used the theory of the Silent Revolution as the starting point for an explanation of the rise of right-wing populist parties and politicians. Regarding the age of right-wing populists' supporters, Norris and Inglehart arrived at empirically inaccurate conclusions. The reason for this lies in the fact that an intergenerational shift in values toward postmaterialism, as posited by the theory of the Silent Revolution, simply does not exist. This is demonstrated using Germany as an example, based on cumulative survey data spanning a period of 54 years. These data are analyzed using hierarchical age-period-cohort models.