Media Attention and Radical Right-Wing Populist Party Sympathy: Longitudinal Evidence From The Netherlands

Abstract

This contribution provides evidence for the sources of sympathies for radical right-wing populist (RRP) parties in a longitudinal perspective. We extend previous knowledge by evaluating the impact of media attention on individual changes of RRP party sympathies. To test our hypotheses, we use panel data from The Netherlands and combine it with information on the saliency of RRP parties and their issues in major Dutch newspapers. Drawing on multilevel structural equation models, our findings indicate that media attention positively affects changes in RRP party sympathies. Furthermore, we find that the effect of media attention on RRP party sympathies is enhanced by perceived ethnic threat and Euroscepticism, respectively. In sum, this study shows that media attention to RRP parties is pivotal for the fortune of such parties.