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The urban–rural divide in radical right populist support: the role of resident’s characteristics, urbanization trends and public service supply

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  • Jonna Rickardsson

    (Jönköping University)

Abstract

In a number of recent elections in Western Europe, support for far-right populist parties has been significantly higher in non-urban areas than in urban areas. This paper answers the following questions; (1) Can the urban–rural divide in voting behavior be explained by the fact that urban and non-urban populations differ in terms of education, income and other individual characteristics of voters, or by variations in immigration? (2) Can variations in public service supply explain parts of the urban–rural divide in far-right populist support? and (3) How does population growth and public services relate to voting behavior when examining urban and rural municipalities separately? The analyses combine survey data on individual characteristics and register data aggregated on municipalities. The results in this paper suggest that voter characteristics and immigration explain a substantial part of the urban–rural divide. However, the propensity to vote for a far-right populist party is still higher in regions with lower population growth even when controlling for individual characteristics and immigration. When considering public service supply, the urban–rural divide is further weakened. The propensity to vote for a far-right party decreases with higher public service supply and higher share of immigrants. The findings in this paper thereby support the hypothesis that individuals in shrinking areas with lower access to public services are likely to respond to the deterioration of their location by casting a vote on the far-right (i.e., protest voting).

Suggested Citation

  • Jonna Rickardsson, 2021. "The urban–rural divide in radical right populist support: the role of resident’s characteristics, urbanization trends and public service supply," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 67(1), pages 211-242, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:67:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s00168-021-01046-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s00168-021-01046-1
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    Cited by:

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    2. Bekhtiar, Karim, 2024. "Robotization, Internal Migration and Rural Decline," VfS Annual Conference 2024 (Berlin): Upcoming Labor Market Challenges 302396, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Edward L. Knudsen, 2023. "Stable or stagnant? Political economy and governance in the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany since 2000," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 14(S4), pages 90-103, October.
    4. Maria Greve & Michael Fritsch & Michael Wyrwich, 2023. "Long‐term decline of regions and the rise of populism: The case of Germany," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(2), pages 409-445, March.
    5. Wei Zhao & Changjun Jiang, 2022. "Analysis of the Spatial and Temporal Characteristics and Dynamic Effects of Urban-Rural Integration Development in the Yangtze River Delta Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-22, July.
    6. Xuefeng Hou & Dianfeng Zhang & Liyuan Fu & Fu Zeng & Qing Wang, 2023. "Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Coupling Coordination Degree between Urban–Rural Integration and Digital Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-26, June.
    7. Stephan Schütze, 2023. "Left Behind Together and Voting for Populism: Regional Out-Migration, Civic Engagement and the Electoral Success of Populist Radical Right Parties," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-22, July.
    8. Karim Bekhtiar, 2022. "Robotization, Internal Migration and Rural Depopulation in Austria," Economics working papers 2022-07, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    9. Yige Sun & Qingshan Yang, 2022. "Study on Spatial–Temporal Evolution Characteristics and Restrictive Factors of Urban–Rural Integration in Northeast China from 2000 to 2019," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-23, July.
    10. Leiru Wei & Xiaojie Zhao & Jianxin Lu, 2022. "Measuring the Level of Urban–Rural Integration Development and Analyzing the Spatial Pattern Based on the New Development Concept: Evidence from Cities in the Yellow River Basin," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-26, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political economics; Regional economics; Urbanization; Public services; Voting behavior; Populism; Extreme right; Radical right;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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