Abstract
Why do voters in developed democracies support right-wing populist parties? Existing research focuses on economic and cultural vulnerability as driving this phenomenon. We hypothesize that perceptions of personal health vulnerability might have a similar influence on voters. To test this argument, we analyzed all waves of the European Social Survey (2002–2020). Our findings suggest that voters with worse self-reported health were significantly more likely to vote for right-wing populist parties. The relationship persists even after accounting for measures of cultural and economic vulnerability, as well as voters’ satisfaction with both their personal lives and their country’s health system. The influence of health on support for right-wing populist parties appears to be greater than that of income and self-reported economic insecurity, while less than that of gender and attitudes about immigrants. Our findings suggest that policies affecting public health could shape not only health outcomes but also the political landscape.
Highlights
Right-wing populist parties are surging in support across the Western world (Norris and Inglehart 2019)
We find that Europeans with worse self-reported health were more likely to vote for right-wing populist parties between 2002 and 2020 (Figure 1)
Our findings suggest that a voter’s perception of healthrelated vulnerability—beyond economic and cultural vulnerabilities—may be fueling right-wing populist support
Summary
Right-wing populist parties are surging in support across the Western world (Norris and Inglehart 2019). A growing body of research has identified economic insecurity and cultural backlash as potential drivers of recent populist successes (Algan et al 2017; Hochschild 2016; Inglehart and Norris 2016; Mudde 2007; Oesch 2008; Rodrik 2018; Smith and Hanley 2018). According to these explanations, once-dominant socioeconomic groups perceive an erosion of their economic opportunities or a threat to their privileged positions in society.
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