Do bordering preferences affect the populist attitudes of citizens?

Abstract

In recent years, the voluminous literature on populism has increasingly taken a look at the political demand side by empirically studying the populist attitudes of citizens. Yet, scholars still lack deep knowledge about the determinants of populist attitudes. This chapter breaks new ground by focusing on individual border preferences. As a direct consequence of national-populist mobilisations against globalisation, it is argued that the citizens' levels of populist attitudes positively depend on their preferences in favour of "re-bordering", i.e., measures of boundary closure and retrenchment. The empirical analysis draws on data from a representative survey of Swiss citizens. By relying on a minimal definition of populism that is at the core of the so-called "ideational approach", it is shown that individuals hold higher levels of populist attitudes the more they are supportive of re-bordering policies. This proves to be in line with the hypothesis investigated here.