“Homogeneous societies are easier to govern”

The current influx of refugees to Germany and Europe also poses a challenge to social and political cohesion. Years of growing inequality of income and wealth are accompanied by increased cultural and religious differences. “The greater the level of socio-economic and ethno-religious inequality, the lower the level of mutual trust among citizens,” says WZB director Wolfgang Merkel in an article on “Social Europe.”

That is why homogeneous societies are easier to govern, whereas heterogeneous societies tend to “draw ethnic cleavages” and to “fragment into sub-cultures.” Merkel points out that this link is not inevitable and can be mitigated. In particular, reducing socio-economic inequality helps to “bridge cultural gaps.”

In his guest article, Wolfgang Merkel analyses three major societal cleavages. He points out that there is not only a widening gap between the rich and the poor but also a growing cleavage between Arab Muslims and European mainstream societies. The third cleavage, according to Merkel, is the one between cosmopolitan elites and the “intellectually, geographically and socially rather immobile parts of our societies.”

Read the article on “Social Europe”