Recent contributions to the field of right-wing radicalism show that
both the demand side of voting (what the elector searches for) as well
as the supply side (what a party has to offer) are of importance to
explain successes of radical right-wing parties (Lubbers, Gijsberts &
Scheepers 2002; Van der Brug & Fennema 2004; Norris 2004; Givens 2005;
Arzheimer & Carter 2006; Rydgren 2007). Most of these studies aim to
explain differences across countries in successes of radical right-wing
parties. For more advanced knowledge of the supply and demand dynamics,
we claim that we have to apply an intra-individual level perspective.
I will present ‘work in progress’ – conducted with Eva Jaspers – on over
time changes in the influences of ethnocentric attitudes on voting at
national elections in the Netherlands. With this dynamic approach we
give answers to questions on the influence of supply and demand
characteristics on intra-individual party preference changes. For the
Netherlands, with various two-wave panel datasets (1995 / 2006; 1990 /
2007; 2000 / 2008 and 2005 / 2008), we study the changes in voting
behaviour in the period before and after the sudden electoral inroads
the List Pim Fortuyn made in 2002. On the radical right-wing side of the
political spectrum, the supply side changed dramatically in the
Netherlands between 1990 and 2008. With the rise of the anti-Islam party
from Wilders in 2006, we additionally study the differences between the
electorates of the various classified radical right-wing parties.
The research question of our project is straightforward: have voters
changed their ethnocentric attitudes – the main indicator of far
right-wing support – and likewise have changed party preference, or have
voters been stable in these attitudes, and just altered party preference
when the supply side changes? Moreover, we will answer questions on the
extent to which the ethnocentric attitude altered in this period, and
became a more imperative issue for the voting behaviour of the Dutch.
Presented by:
Marcel Lubbers (Faculty of Social and Behavioural Science, Utrecht University)
Date & time:
April 28, 2008 3:00 pm - April 27, 2008 11:00 pm
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