Abstract

This paper stu­dies the link bet­ween eco­no­mic in­se­cu­ri­ty of the midd­le class and ra­di­cal right party (RRP) sup­port in 13 Wes­tern Eu­ropean coun­tries. Eco­no­mic in­se­cu­ri­ty is con­cep­tua­li­sed as the oc­cu­pa­tio­nal risk of down­ward mo­bi­li­ty. To cap­tu­re the po­ten­ti­al mi­ti­ga­ting ef­fects of pro­spects of up­ward mo­bi­li­ty and in­crea­sing midd­le class on eco­no­mic in­se­cu­ri­ty, I com­pu­te a novel index which in ad­di­ti­on to the risk of down­ward mo­bi­li­ty ac­counts for the other two dy­na­mics. I find that eco­no­mic in­se­cu­ri­ty is dis­tinct for oc­cu­pa­tio­nal groups and va­ries by coun­try. Both me­a­su­res are po­si­tive­ly cor­re­la­ted with RRP sup­port. The re­sults high­light that the de­cli­ne of the midd­le class im­pacts the po­li­ti­cal sphe­re. The paper con­tri­bu­tes to the re­se­arch on eco­no­mic in­se­cu­ri­ty by pro­po­sing a new me­a­su­re to cap­tu­re eco­no­mic in­se­cu­ri­ty of the midd­le class and to the li­te­ra­tu­re on in­ves­ti­ga­ting the role of la­tent eco­no­mic th­re­at, as op­po­sed to eco­no­mic hard­ship, on RRP sup­port.

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Kontakt

• Ju­dith DERN­DOR­FER
  E-​Mail: ju­dith.dern­dor­fer@wu.ac.at