When economic and cultural interests align: the anti- immigration voter coalitions driving far right party success in Europe

Halikiopoulou, D. and Vlandas, T. (2020) When economic and cultural interests align: the anti- immigration voter coalitions driving far right party success in Europe. European Political Science Review, 12 (4). pp. 427-448. ISSN 1755-7739 doi: 10.1017/S175577392000020X

Abstract/Summary

This article contests the view that the strong positive correlation between anti-immigration attitudes and far right party success constitutes evidence in support of the cultural grievance thesis and against the economic grievance thesis. We argue that far right party success depends on the ability to mobilise a coalition of interests between their core supporters, i.e. voters with cultural grievances over immigration and the, often, larger group of voters with economic grievances over immigration. Using individual level data from 8 rounds of the European Social Survey (ESS), our empirical analysis shows that while cultural concerns over immigration are a stronger predictor of far right party support, those who dislike the impact of immigration on the economy are important to the far right in numerical terms. Taken together, our findings suggest that economic grievances over immigration remain pivotal within the context of the transnational cleavage.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/89576
Identification Number/DOI	10.1017/S175577392000020X
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Politics, Economics and International Relations > Politics and International Relations
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
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