An experimental test of the impact of style and rhetoric on the perception of right-wing populist and mainstream party leaders

Abstract

It has often been argued that the communication strategies used by right-wing populists are key to their appeal to voters. However, prior studies found only rather limited across-the-board effects of communication strategies that employ a populist style and rhetoric. In this study, we focus on the conditionality of the effects of these two communication strategies on the perceived legitimacy of one right-wing populist and one mainstream leader. We use an experimental setup with a large-N representative sample of Dutch voters (n=3125). The results show that the effects of populist communication strategies differ for the lower educated and the politically cynical. These groups of voters are more susceptible to persuasion by the populist style of the right-wing populist party leader. Results are discussed in the light of research on (right-wing) populism.