The Drivers of Radical, Populist, and Extremist Attitudes

Abstract

This panel explores the role of individual-level attitudes in the rise of radical, populist, and extremist actors in local and national contexts, and how perceptions shape varying support for, and attitudes towards, such movements and parties. The first three papers offer novel approaches to the study of the drivers for support to populist and radical right parties, as they focus on the role of time (effect of life transitions), local infrastructure (relative deprivation), and religion (Para-Christian identity) respectively. The latter two instead consider the role of attitudes towards the far-right actors themselves, to better understand the mainstreaming process of far-right parties, and how threat perceptions and prejudice towards outgroups lead to distorted public understandings of the threats of far-right extremism. Collectively, the papers thus all contribute to a further nuancing of the debate around the drivers of populist and radical right support and mainstreaming.

Title	Details
The influence of life transitions on populist attitudes	View Paper Details
Guardians of the West? Para-Christian identities and radical right party preferences in the West European public	View Paper Details
The Connection of Local Infrastructure, Status, Deprivation, and Voting for Right-Wing Populists in Germany	View Paper Details
Radicalized Mainstream: Mobilizing, Normalizing and Normativizing far-right ideologies from the Centre	View Paper Details