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Discontent With What? Linking Self-Centered and Society-Centered Discontent to Populist Party Support
[journal article]
Abstract Previous studies aimed at explaining populist support emphasize the crucial role of populist attitudes and ideology among the general population. With respect to the role of discontent and grievances as drivers of populist support - often at the heart of theoretical work on populism - however, empir... view more
Previous studies aimed at explaining populist support emphasize the crucial role of populist attitudes and ideology among the general population. With respect to the role of discontent and grievances as drivers of populist support - often at the heart of theoretical work on populism - however, empirical results are rather mixed. We argue that the apparent contradictions are partly due to insufficient conceptualization of discontent. We distinguish between societal-centered discontent, which is more based on a general, negative subjective assessment of society, and self-centered discontent that expresses a negative assessment of one’s personal situation. In line with our expectations, regression results for Germany confirm that society-centered discontent, but not self-centered discontent, is important for populist party support. Moreover, we find that society-centered discontent also moderates the relation between populist attitudes and populist support. We conclude that beyond ideologies, populism capitalizes on the cultivation of collective - but not individual - discontent.... view less
Keywords
political attitude; political right; party; preference; populism; satisfaction; attitude formation; Federal Republic of Germany
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
Alternative for Germany (AfD); populist attitudes; self-centered discontent; society-centered discontent
Document language
English
Publication Year
2020
Page/Pages
p. 900-920
Journal
Political Studies, 69 (2020) 4
ISSN
1467-9248
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed