Dynamics of Attitudinal Dimensions of National Populism in Europe, 2008-2017

Abstract

This article is dedicated to examining the changes in the political attitudes related to national populism in the European public opinion. The research hypothesis is that the “revival of nationalism” over the last years is due to the rise not in nationalist attitudes as such but in the strength of their intercorrelations with the political attitudes national populism is frequently attributed to – the growing disappointment with democratic ideal, its country-specific implementations, a country’s political system, and the government. The hypothesis is tested by means of a quantitative comparative analysis of the data of the two most recent waves of the European Values Study collected in 2008 and in 2017. The results show the relevance of these correlations by revealing the countries with national populist governments, contrary to other post-Socialist countries, to showcase increased positive correlations between national pride and satisfaction with a country’s political system and confidence in government. These findings support the notion that in Europe, national populism is largely due to the East-West divide not in ideals and aspirations, but in the relative success in their fulfillment.