Dissecting Electoral Support for the Far Right: A Comparison between Mature and Post-Communist European Democracies. Issue 1 (4th January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Brils, Tobias; Muis, Jasper; Gaidytė, Teodora
• Is Part Of: Government and opposition. Volume 57:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 56
• Page End: 83
• Publication Date: 2022-01-04
• Subjects: far right -- populist radical right -- voting behaviour -- anti-immigration attitudes -- abstention -- post-communist democracies; Political science -- Periodicals; 320.05
• DOI: 10.1017/gov.2020.17
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0017-257X

Abstract

Abstract: This article investigates three explanations for electoral support for the far right – 'cultural backlash', 'economic grievances' and 'protest voting' – in a novel way. Our main contribution is that we contrast far-right voters with voters of centre-right parties, traditional left-wing parties and abstainers. Equally innovative is the comparison between mature and post-communist democracies. Using European Social Survey data (2014–16), we conclude that anti-immigration attitudes are most important in distinguishing far-right voters from all other groups. Yet, these differences are significantly smaller in Eastern Europe. Furthermore, far-right voters are not the so-called socioeconomic 'losers of globalization': this is only true when compared with centre-right voters. Concerning protest voting, distrust of supranational governance particularly enhances far-right voting. Overall, our study concludes that more fine-grained distinctions pay off and avoid misleading generalizations about 'European far-right voters' often presented in public debates.