Populist Attitudes, Cleavage Identification, and Polarization in Austria and Germany

The Ideational Approach to Populism: vol.II: Consequences and Mitigation
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pp. 118-139
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London, New York
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Routledge
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2024

Angelos Chryssogelos, Eliza Tanner Hawkins, Kirk Andrew Hawkins, Levente Littvay,
Jungkunz, Sebastian, Marc Helbling
ISBN: 978-1-032-78888-3 (print), 978-1-040-14918-8 (online)
DOI: 
10.4324/9781003489993-8
Abstract

In Western Europe, a new demarcation-integration cleavage has arisen between those who benefit from globalization and those who do not, as seen by the deterioration of national borders over time. This chapter examines how populist attitudes and beliefs contribute to social division and group identification. It anticipates that those with greater degrees of populist sentiments will exhibit stronger cleavage identification, which will have an impact on political behavior and participation as well as how they perceive other people in society from the opposite side of the cleavage.To test the assumptions, the chapter draws on data from two representative online surveys fielded in Germany (2017) and Austria (2018). The results of the vignette experiments reveal that populist attitudes increase identification with one's own group of the cleavage for voters of right-wing populist parties (AfD & FPÖ) in both countries. In turn, the results for social perceptions and (a-)symmetric evaluations of in- and outgroups are mixed and seem to be more context-dependent, driven by ideology, party identification, and education.