Economic conditions and populist radical right voting: The role of issue salience

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in a polarized political system: Lessons from the 2020 election

“… 7 This approach allows each respondent to indicate the level of personal salience of approximately 18 issues, in contrast to the recent work of Sigma and Berning (2021) who examine the influence of economic conditions and immigration issues in nine European countries. …”

Working class economic insecurity and voting for radical right and radical left parties

“…Whereas radical right parties predominantly focus on anti-immigration policies, radical left parties decry the economic consequences of globalization (Ramiro, 2016). People in an insecure labour market position might therefore perceive the radical left as more capable of rectifying their economic insecurity than the radical right, and therefore be more likely to vote for the radical left (Sipma and Berning, 2021). However, the interpretation we tested for here, the mediation by political distrust and support for income redistribution, did not explain the found effect of economic insecurity on radical left voting.…”

Voting for the Populist Radical-Right in Austria and Germany: A Comparative Analysis

“…The socio-demographic composition of supporters, however, appears to be quite heterogeneous across countries (Rooduijn 2018) and a recent meta-analysis finds no consistent relationship between objective economic conditions, such as the unemployment rate, and the vote for the populist radical-right (Sipma/Lubbers 2020). Nevertheless, when shifting the focus away from objective circumstances to subjective perceptions, a more consistent relationship emerges between economic or societal pessimism and the vote for the populist radical-right (Sipma/Berning 2021;Steenvoorden/Harteveld 2018). This may suggest that a 'sense of crisis' (Taggart 2004) and societal decline can take root quite independently of tangible economic realities.…”

“…Among them, in particular, anti-immigrant sentiments stand out as a factor uniting supporters of radical-right parties (Ivarsflaten 2008;Rooduijn 2018). But also economic pessimism (Sipma/Berning 2021;Steenvoorden/Harteveld 2018) as well as populist attitudes (Akkerman et al 2014) have been identified as further relevant correlates of voting for the populist radical-right.…”