Make My Money Mine! How is Macroeconomic Welfare Spending associated with the Electoral Support for Populist Radical Right Parties in Western European Countries?

Abstract

This paper argues that consumptive welfare state expenditures reinforce the electoral support for Populist Radical Right Parties (PRRPs) among their active sympathisers, since this part of the electorate perceives higher expenditures as unjust towards the deserving parts of society and subsequently becomes (more) receptive to the welfare state agendas of PRRPs. This effect may be extrapolatable to the broader electorate. The findings contribute to discussions on the recalibration of the welfare state and its partisan implications. Theoretically, the paper picks up on recent literature on PRRPs’ welfare state politics and discourse, the welfare preferences of their voters as well as relative deprivation. Methodologically, the paper employs basic multiple regressions at the macro-level political conflict within the EU-15 countries between 1990 and the present day, and a multi-level logit model at the individual level.