Anti‐elite parties and political inequality: How challenges to the political mainstream reduce income gaps in internal efficacy

Marx, Paul; Nguyen, Christoph

doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12258

Cited by 31 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Despite its early technocratic and Eurosceptic roots, the AfD has therefore become a firmly entrenched right-wing populist party. Indeed, even as early as 2014, the AfD was already the party with the most anti-elite and populist positions in the German political system (Lewandowsky, Giebler and Wagner, 2016;Marx and Nguyen, 2018), and subsequent party-splits and electoral strategies have increased this trend further.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Populists create clear narratives and identities. But while this clarity can enhance engagement and interest in politics (Marx and Nguyen, 2018), the dominant narrative of lacking responsiveness should also trigger anger. Moreover, while support for one party also creates greater political interest and engagement, higher engagement also leads to more emotional responses to politics (Miller, 2011).…”

Section: Anger Anxiety and The Activation And Maintenance Of Populimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emotions and Populist Support

Nguyen¹

2019

Preprint

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Is there a special relationship between emotions and populism? Academic and popular discussions of populism frequently suggest that this is the case, and that anger and anxiety in particular, are crucial explanatory factors for the continued appeal of populist parties. But despite the often-posited link between negative emotions and populism, few studies have explored this relationship empirically. This paper aims to fill this gap and answer three related questions: Firstly, to what extent is the relationship between negative affect and populist party support unique to these parties and do we observe differences between left and right-wing populism? Secondly, what is the temporal relationship between affect and populism? Do voters support populist parties because they are anxious or does support for these parties create these negative emotions? And finally, are populists angry, scared, or both? In other words, to what extent do we need to distinguish between specific types of negative affect, such as anger and anxiety, when discussing the emotional underpinnings of populism? Comparing panel data from Austria and Germany, this paper investigates the relationship between anger and anxiety on the one hand, and support for populist parties on the other. Using a random-intercept, autoregressive cross-lagged design, the paper has three findings. First of all, the reinforcing pattern of increased negative emotions and increased party support is unique to (right-wing) populists. Secondly, this relationship is self-reinforcing. While negative affect leads to greater support for right wing populist parties, the reverse relationship is more consistent and of larger magnitude. Negative emotions trigger populist support, but they are more important for maintaining it. Finally, it is important to distinguish between anger and anxiety. While only anxiety is consistent in its ability to trigger populist support, subsequently both anger and anxiety are increased.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Anger Anxiety and The Activation And Maintenance Of Populimentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotions and Populist Support

Nguyen¹

2019

Preprint

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“…Which of these political responses prevails under which conditions is a largely unanswered question. An emerging literature suggests, however, that part of the answer lies in peoples’ varying emotional responses to socio‐economic problems (Aytaç, Rau, & Stokes, in press; Hochschild, 2016; Marx & Nguyen, 2018; Salmela & von Scheve, 2017; Smith, Cronin, & Kessler, 2008; Wagner, 2014). Similar (economic) situations can be appraised by people in different ways, which leads to different emotions and (political) action tendencies (Keltner & Lerner, 2010; Lerner, Li, Valdesolo, & Kassam, 2015; Marcus, Neuman, & MacKuen, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti‐elite politics and emotional reactions to socio‐economic problems: Experimental evidence on “pocketbook anger” from France, Germany, and the United States

Marx

2020

British Journal of Sociology

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Many observers have noticed the importance of anger in contemporary politics, particularly with reference to populism. This article addresses the question under which conditions people become angry about a specific aspect of their lives: their personal financial situation. Specifically, it asks if populist anti‐elite rhetoric has a causal influence on anger and if this influence differs across socio‐economic groups. The theoretical expectation is that anti‐elite rhetoric allows people to externalize responsibility for an unfavorable financial situation and thereby to turn negative self‐conscious emotions into anger. The argument is tested with original survey data from France, Germany, and the United States. The empirical analysis yields three main insights. First, negative emotional reactions to respondents’ personal finances (and anger in particular) are surprisingly widespread in all three countries. Second, there is a pronounced socio‐economic gradient in the distribution of anger and other negative emotions. Third, and most importantly, randomly exposing participants to populist anti‐elite rhetoric causes considerably higher expressed anger about one's financial situation in France and Germany, but less so in the United States. This suggests a causal role of anti‐elite rhetoric in stirring “pocketbook anger.” This is true in particular in the middle classes. The notion that populist rhetoric reduces negative self‐conscious emotions, such as shame, is not supported by the data.

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“…While education is generally seen as the primary path through which political efficacy is formed, other studies additionally find that poverty (Marx and Nguyen, 2018a), poor health (Mattila et al, 2017;Shore et al, 2020), unemployment (Marx and Nguyen, 2016;Westholm and Niemi, 1986), or minority ethnic and religious status (Abramson, 1983;Oskooii, 2016;Schwartz, 1973) are all associated with lower political efficacy. There are therefore many other potential sources of low political efficacy that can lead to feelings of political alienation and a withdrawal from political engagement (Almond and Verba, 1963).…”

Section: Political Efficacymentioning

confidence: 99%

How social policy impacts inequalities in political efficacy

Shore

2020

Sociology Compass

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Political efficacy-the feeling that one is able to effectively participate in politics and also that her input is worthwhileis an important precursor to numerous political activities, most prominently voting. Beyond individual resources, there is growing evidence that social policies also matter for inequalities in political efficacy. This review centers on the concept of political efficacy and its dimensions to highlight the ways in which social policies can promote or hamper people's subjective beliefs about their role vis-à-vis the state. I review studies examining the ways in which social policies can shape political efficacy, focusing on social policy design and administration. Particular attention is given to the policy feedback literature, which posits that policies can influence political efficacy through the channels of resource and interpretive effects. The review concludes by discussing the limitations and challenges of the topic and also outlines areas for the further study of political efficacy and social policy.

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Anti‐elite parties and political inequality: How challenges to the political mainstream reduce income gaps in internal efficacy

Cited by 31 publications

References 64 publications

Emotions and Populist Support

Emotions and Populist Support

Anti‐elite politics and emotional reactions to socio‐economic problems: Experimental evidence on “pocketbook anger” from France, Germany, and the United States

How social policy impacts inequalities in political efficacy

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