Embargoed Access
The electoral consequences of socio-economic inequalities
Loading...
Files
Embargoed until 2027
License
Access Rights
Cadmus Permanent Link
Full-text via DOI
ISBN
ISSN
Issue Date
Type of Publication
Keyword(s)
LC Subject Heading
Other Topic(s)
EUI Research Cluster(s)
Initial version
Published version
Succeeding version
Preceding version
Published version part
Earlier different version
Initial format
Author(s)
Citation
Florence : European University Institute, 2023
EUI; SPS; PhD Thesis
Cite
CICCOLINI, Giuseppe, The electoral consequences of socio-economic inequalities, Florence : European University Institute, 2023, EUI, SPS, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/75921
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests that increasing socio-economic inequality fosters the electoral success of the far right. Yet the exact socio-economic drivers of support for these parties still cause debate among scholars, as individual-level studies provide limited causal support for the role of economic hardship. The present dissertation addresses this debate in three different ways. Chapter 3 demonstrates that far-right parties are particularly successful among social classes whose economic status – meaning their objective economic position within the social hierarchy – has worsened over time, based on ESS and EU-SILC data. In Chapter 4, my co-author and I analyze class voting patterns in Europe from an intergenerational perspective, by investigating how social mobility influences voting choices, based on ESS-DEVO data. Chapter 5 provides evidence that economic decay causes a far-right response most likely in municipalities with stronger place-based community rootedness, which I measure based on a factor analysis exploiting a variety of data sources including administrative records and phone directory data. This dissertation reveals a number of socio-economic drivers of the success of the radical right. Farright voters are citizens that have experienced a relative decline in their social class’s economic circumstances over time compared to the rest of society. It is also those that have seen their town suffer from long-term economic decline but are not willing or ready to move somewhere else. It is not those who have seen a decline in their absolute material circumstances, or those who find themselves in a worse situation compared to their parents. To achieve these results, it is crucial to adopt a group-level, relative, and dynamic research approach – unlike extant literature. These studies suggest that future research on the drivers of far-right voting should further explore the role of the subjective dimension, prior beliefs, and additional sources of socio-economic inequality.
Table of Contents
Additional Information
Defence date: 29 September 2023
Examining Board: Prof. Juho Härkönen (European University Institute, supervisor); Prof. Nonna Mayer (Sciences Po, external co-supervisor); Prof. Ellen M. Immergut (European University Institute); Prof. Tarik Abou-Chadi (University of Oxford)
Examining Board: Prof. Juho Härkönen (European University Institute, supervisor); Prof. Nonna Mayer (Sciences Po, external co-supervisor); Prof. Ellen M. Immergut (European University Institute); Prof. Tarik Abou-Chadi (University of Oxford)