Does Class-Based Campaigning Work? How Working Class Appeals Attract and Polarize Voters

Abstract

Recent elections have featured various politicians directly appealing to the working class, yet we know little about how citizens react to class appeals from candidates. We investigate this question using survey experiments conducted in the United States and Denmark. We show that symbolic class rhetoric substantially influences candidate evaluations and ultimately polarizes these evaluations across class lines. We also unpack how class appeals work and find that while they increase perceptions of representation among working class voters, they have a more limited effect on perceptions of candidates’ ideological position. Our results help explain how class affects voter decision-making and contribute to broader discussions about the role of political elites in activating social cleavages.

Subjective losers of globalization

“…Beyond the case of party identity, we know little about the role of elites in the formation and activation of identities in the political arena. Evidence of how party rhetoric stimulates cleavage voting via identity‐based mechanisms is only beginning to emerge (Robison et al., 2021; Thau, 2021) and is completely lacking with respect to the emerging globalization cleavage. Thus, while our results imply that political entrepreneurs may use the ‘globalization loser’ category to activate the diverse political potentials that structural changes associated with globalization have created (cf.…”

“…When citizens share, and are invested in, a common understanding of who they are, political elites may appeal to such identities, claiming to represent this collective. In effect, group‐based appeals can be just as important as parties’ policy differences for cleavage voting (Robison et al., 2021; Thau, 2021). In short, full‐fledged political cleavages are characterized by the existence of socio‐structurally rooted social identities that come with certain values, political attitudes and party loyalties.…”

The Effects of Targeted Campaign Messages on Candidate Evaluations

“…Politicians may benefit, according to the authors, from broad-based, or ambiguous, appeals while mistargeted voters may penalize politicians. Subsequent studies (Albertson, 2015; Endres, 2020; Holman et al, 2015; Robison et al, 2021; Valenzuela & Michelson, 2016) focus on specific types of targeted messages – those aimed at working class, Democrats whose position on an issue is similar to the position held by the Republican candidate, Latinos, females, and religious voters.…”

“…Political campaigns target voters, and there is a growing body of literature on the effects of targeted campaign messages. Studies examine how voters react to group-directed pandering (Hersh & Schaffner, 2013), often focusing specifically on appeals that are based on class (Robison et al, 2021), race (Valenzuela & Michelson, 2016), gender (Holman et al, 2015), religion (Albertson, 2015), and issue positions (Endres, 2020). This research adds to the literature by examining the effects of additional targeting variations (i.e., the messages campaigns use when targeting supporters vs. swing voters) and by connecting the literature to a related scholarship on campaigning across media (Bode & Vraga, 2018).…”

Politics Multiculturalism of Minority Religions in Demanding Freedom of Worship

“…Minority groups must participate in national and local political processes in an increasingly diverse political environment (Akhtar & Peace, 2019). Community groups influence voter decisions and contribute to broader debate about the role of political elites in generating societal divisions (Robison et al, 2021). Political efforts of the Towani Tolotang people to get legislative protection for traditional customs and beliefs.…”