Date: 2021
Type: Article
Parliamentary representation and the normalization of radical right support
Comparative political studies, 2021, Vol. 54, No. 14, pp. 2475-2511
VALENTIM, Vicente, Parliamentary representation and the normalization of radical right support, Comparative political studies, 2021, Vol. 54, No. 14, pp. 2475-2511
- https://hdl.handle.net/1814/70696
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
How do stigmatized political preferences become normalized? I argue that the parliamentary representation of the radical right normalizes radical right support. Radical right politicians breach established social norms. Hence their supporters have an incentive to conceal that support. When the radical right enters parliament, however, its voters are likely to perceive that their views have been legitimized, becoming more likely to display their private preferences. I use three studies to test this argument. Study 1 employs a regression discontinuity comparing the underreport of voting for radical right parties (RRPs) above and below thresholds of parliamentary representation. Study 2 compares how much individuals report liking RRPs in post-electoral surveys depending on interview mode. Study 3 employs a difference-in-differences that looks into the underreport of UKIP vote before and after entering parliament. The results support the argument and highlight the role of political institutions in defining the acceptability of behaviors in society.
Additional information:
First published online: 16 March 2021
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/70696
Full-text via DOI: 10.1177/0010414021997159
ISSN: 0010-4140; 1552-3829
Publisher: Sage
Sponsorship and Funder information:
This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.
Succeeding version: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/71915
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