Inequality and anti-globalization backlash by political parties

Abstract

Does income inequality increase political backlash against European and global integration? This paper reports research suggesting that it can. The article analyses party opposition to and support for trade openness, European Union integration and general internationalism of political party platforms in advanced industrial democracies between 1960 and 2008. It finds that inequality tends to increase anti-globalization positions of parties, net of pro-globalization positions, an effect that does not significantly differ across party families or levels of actual globalization. This effect, however, does depend on, and is diminished by, generous redistributive policies. These findings clarify socio-economic conditions underlying the backlash against political and economic globalization.

Euroskepticism, Income Inequality and Financial Expectations

“…There is evidence that European economic and political integration is one important driver of an increase in income inequality (Beckfield 2006(Beckfield , 2009 and that the increase in income inequality is negatively associated with public support for EU integration (Burgoon 2013;Kuhn et al 2014). Recent findings furthermore indicate that individuals with lower levels of education are particularly sensitive to income inequality with regard to Euroskeptic attitudes (Kuhn et al 2014) and that the positive impact of low education on Euroskepticism has even increased in the last decades (Hakhverdian et al 2013).…”

“…Motivated by the finding that European integration divides European citizens into economic winners and losers (Beckfield 2006), one prominent explanatory approach for an increase in Euroskeptic attitudes is the increase in income inequality (Atkinson 2013;Burgoon 2013;Kuhn et al 2014;Ritzen and Zimmermann 2014). However, for the period of 2006-2011 (i.e.…”

Smart Policies or Sheer Luck? Labour Market Resilience in the Low Countries

“…Lastly, and in addition to the previous two points, economic openness is not just a development taking place outside the control of national governments, but is to a certain extent consciously striven for, taking into account how much uncertainty a country can handle and the public is willing to face (e.g. Burgoon ; Koster ). Hence, both economic openness and social policies are the outcomes of interactions between public and private actors.…”

Individuals, interactions and institutions: How economic inequality affects organizations

“…Further, as income inequality increases, a number of free market principles are compromised or resisted (e.g. property rights weaken: Keefer and Knack [2002]; opposition to free labour flows increases: Bilal et al [2003]; and anti-globalization stances strengthen: Burgoon [2013]). …”