William Brustein
The Logic of Evil


Brustein, William. 1996. The Logic of Evil: The Social Origins of the Nazi Party 1925-1933.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.


Theory. This is a study of Nazi party membership for the period 1925-1933. The author accounts for the decision to join or support the party from a rational choice perspective. That is, political decision-making is guided by one's perceptions of his/her material self-interest. Joining the Nazi party is explained in terms of a two-level model. The first level posits the importance of interest compatibility; the second level notes the relevance of selective incentives and disincentives.

Design. The study examines the relationship between the attributes of political parties and individuals. In an effort to understand material interests of different groups of individuals, classes were broken down into certain strata. The interests of these strata were then compared to the political programs of the nine major political parties in Germany. Individual attributes were determined from a sample of the 11 million official membership cards of everyone who was ever a member of the Nazi party.

Measurement. The total sample comprises 42,000 membership cards, which list the occupations of individual members. The author was primarily concerned with understanding how material interests and membership varied across occupations. The occupations were classified according to the same categories employed in the 1925 and 1933 German censuses.

Data Analysis. The statistical analysis was primarily descriptive; it included some bivariate correlations and some multiple regression analysis.

Interpretation. The study found that, contrary to previous research, there was substantial and significant working-class support for the Nazi party. In every year sampled more than 40 percent of the membership came from blue-collar working class. While the study concurred with previous work, in noting that the party was underrepresented in terms of women, it also found that female membership was skewed in favor of unmarried women; more than 90 percent of the females who joined the party were unmarried. The researcher calls for further research on social movements and extremist political parties from a rational-choice perspective.

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