• About us
• Undergraduate study
• Postgraduate taught degrees
• PhD Study
• About our research
• Research - Information for Staff (login required)
• Our people
• Ethics
• News & events
• Current students
• Careers and Student Employability
• International students
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
• Wellbeing, welfare and support
• Alumni

Democracy and discontent: institutional trust and evaluations of system performance among core and peripheral far right voters

Posted on 2 June 2023

New article by Prof Daphne Halikiopoulou

Professor Daphne Halikiopoulou has a new article she has co-authored alongside Professor Sofia Vasilopoulou which has been published in the Journal of European Public Policy.

The article: "Democracy and discontent: institutional trust and evaluations of system performance among core and peripheral far right voters" was first published on 29th May 2023.

Abstract:

This article contributes to the debate about democratic discontent and far right party support taking into account the heterogeneity of the far right voter pool. Distinguishing between peripheral far right voters driven by discontent, and core far right voters driven by nationalism, we argue that citizens’ evaluations of the democratic process are associated with their electoral behaviour; but this relationship varies depending on their immigration attitudes. Using data from 9 waves of the European Social Survey (2002-2018), we confirm that whereas among the general population positive evaluations of the democratic process may serve as a deterrent for far right party support, the same assessments are unlikely to deter the far right's core ideological voters. In some circumstances, they might have a galvanising effect, prompting a backlash among some core voters. Our findings add nuance to voting behaviour theories, and illustrate why scholars should pay more attention to far right intra-partisan heterogeneity.