IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socres/v28y2023i1p110-131.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What’s Work Got to Do with It? How Precarity Influences Radical Party Support in France and the Netherlands

Author

Listed:
  • Lorenza Antonucci

    (University of Birmingham, UK)

  • Carlo D’Ippoliti

    (La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy)

  • Laszlo Horvath

    (University of Exeter, UK)

  • André Krouwel

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Abstract

The rising support for radical parties in Europe has triggered a new interest in the political sociology of voting and how voters with socio-economic insecurity are moving away from establishment politics. In this article, we apply Standing’s concept of ‘precarity’ to capture insecurity among ordinary voters and thereby expand the individual socio-economic explanations behind the vote for radical populist right (RPR) and radical left (RL) parties. We develop a multidimensional measure of precarity to capture subjective labour market insecurity in its different manifestations. The article examines the influence of precarity on voting in two countries – France and the Netherlands – that, in the 2017 elections, saw the culmination of a decline in support for establishment parties and a rise in support for both RPR and RL parties. We use panels of voters collected during these elections through online Voting Advice Applications, weighted against national census benchmarks. We identify and assess the role of two dimensions of precarity: ‘precarity of tenure’ and ‘precarity at work’. We find that in both France and the Netherlands precarity is, overall, negatively correlated with voting for established parties and positively correlated with voting for RPR and RL parties. Furthermore, our investigation shows that ‘precarity at work’ is more significant in explaining voting support than the more widely investigated ‘precarity of tenure’. Our results stress the importance of assessing how subjective work insecurity explains voting and support for RPR and RL parties.

Suggested Citation

  • Lorenza Antonucci & Carlo D’Ippoliti & Laszlo Horvath & André Krouwel, 2023. "What’s Work Got to Do with It? How Precarity Influences Radical Party Support in France and the Netherlands," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 28(1), pages 110-131, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:28:y:2023:i:1:p:110-131
    DOI: 10.1177/13607804211020321
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13607804211020321
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/13607804211020321?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tim Bale & Christoffer Green‐Pedersen & André Krouwel & Kurt Richard Luther & Nick Sitter, 2010. "If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them? Explaining Social Democratic Responses to the Challenge from the Populist Radical Right in Western Europe," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 58(3), pages 410-426, June.
    2. Marx, Paul & Picot, Georg, 2020. "Three approaches to labor-market vulnerability and political preferences," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 356-361, April.
    3. Adascalitei, Dragos. & Pignatti, Clemente., 2015. "Labour market reforms since the crisis drivers and consequences," ILO Working Papers 994889613402676, International Labour Organization.
    4. Tim Bale & Christoffer Green-Pedersen & André Krouwel & Kurt Richard Luther & Nick Sitter, 2010. "If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them? Explaining Social Democratic Responses to the Challenge from the Populist Radical Right in Western Europe," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 58, pages 410-426, June.
    5. André Krouwel & Annemarie Elfrinkhof, 2014. "Combining strengths of methods of party positioning to counter their weaknesses: the development of a new methodology to calibrate parties on issues and ideological dimensions," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 1455-1472, May.
    6. Peter Tammes, 2017. "Investigating Differences in Brexit-vote Among Local Authorities in the UK: An Ecological Study on Migration- and Economy-related Issues," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 22(3), pages 143-164, September.
    7. Janine Leschke & Andrew Watt, 2014. "Challenges in Constructing a Multi-dimensional European Job Quality Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 1-31, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Krause, Werner & Giebler, Heiko, 2020. "Shifting Welfare Policy Positions: The Impact of Radical Right Populist Party Success Beyond Migration Politics," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 56(3), pages 331-348.
    2. Samuel Merrill & Bernard Grofman, 2019. "What are the effects of entry of new extremist parties on the policy platforms of mainstream parties?," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 31(3), pages 453-473, July.
    3. G. Lappas & A. Triantafillidou & P. Yannas, 2019. "Members of European Parliament (MEPs) on Social Media: Understanding the Underlying Mechanisms of Social Media Adoption and Popularity," The Review of Socionetwork Strategies, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 55-77, June.
    4. Ennser-Jedenastik, Laurenz & Köppl-Turyna, Monika, 2019. "Cushion or catalyst? How welfare state generosity moderates the impact of economic vulnerability on populist radical right support," Working Papers 16, Agenda Austria.
    5. Benjamin Moffitt, 2017. "Liberal Illiberalism? The Reshaping of the Contemporary Populist Radical Right in Northern Europe," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 112-122.
    6. Maurits Meijers & Christian Rauh, 2016. "Has Eurosceptic Mobilization Become More Contagious? Comparing the 2009 and 2014 EP Election Campaigns in The Netherlands and France," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(1), pages 83-103.
    7. Sarah Meyer & Sieglinde Rosenberger, 2015. "Just a Shadow? The Role of Radical Right Parties in the Politicization of Immigration, 1995–2009," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(2), pages 1-17.
    8. Bevelander, Pieter & Hellström, Anders, 2011. "Trespassing the Threshold of Relevance: Media Exposure and Opinion Polls of the Sweden Democrats, 2006-2010," IZA Discussion Papers 6011, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Brian Burgoon & Sam van Noort & Matthijs Rooduijn & Geoffrey Underhill, 2018. "Radical Right Populism and the Role of Positional Deprivation and Inequality," LIS Working papers 733, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    10. Silke Adam & Eva-Maria Antl-Wittenberg & Beatrice Eugster & Melanie Leidecker-Sandmann & Michaela Maier & Franzisca Schmidt, 2017. "Strategies of pro-European parties in the face of a Eurosceptic challenge," European Union Politics, , vol. 18(2), pages 260-282, June.
    11. Mieke Verloo, 2018. "Gender Knowledge, and Opposition to the Feminist Project: Extreme-Right Populist Parties in the Netherlands," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(3), pages 20-30.
    12. Abou-Chadi, Tarik & Krause, Werner, 2020. "The Causal Effect of Radical Right Success on Mainstream Parties’ Policy Positions: A Regression Discontinuity Approach," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 50(3), pages 829-847.
    13. Lacewell, Onawa Promise, 2017. "Beyond policy positions: How party type conditions programmatic responses to globalization pressures," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 23(4), pages 448-460.
    14. O'Connell, Michael, 2011. "How do high-skilled natives view high-skilled immigrants? A test of trade theory predictions," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 230-240, June.
    15. Clément Malgouyres, 2017. "Trade Shocks and Far-Right Voting: Evidence from French Presidential Elections," RSCAS Working Papers 2017/21, European University Institute.
    16. Danilo Di Mauro & Vincenzo Memoli, 2021. "The Role of Public Opinion in EU Integration: Assessing the Relationship between Elites and the Public during the Refugee Crisis," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(5), pages 1303-1321, September.
    17. James Floyd Downes & Matthew Loveless & Andrew Lam, 2021. "The Looming Refugee Crisis in the EU: Right‐Wing Party Competition and Strategic Positioning," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(5), pages 1103-1123, September.
    18. Meijers, Maurits & Rauh, Christian, 2016. "Has eurosceptic mobilization become more contagious? Comparing the 2009 and 2014 EP election campaigns in the Netherlands and France," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 4(1), pages 83-103.
    19. Gessler, Theresa & Hunger, Sophia, 2022. "How the refugee crisis and radical right parties shape party competition on immigration," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(3), pages 524-544.
    20. Zobel, Malisa & Lehmann, Pola, 2018. "Positions and saliency of immigration in party manifestos: A novel dataset using crowd coding," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 57(4), pages 1056-1083.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:28:y:2023:i:1:p:110-131. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.