Right-wing Ideology Research Articles

Social preferences, support for redistribution, and attitudes towards vulnerable groups

In this work, I explore the explanatory power of experimentally-elicited social preferences over self-reported support for redistribution. Social preferences are obtained by means of a simplified dictator game embedded in an online survey that also includes a questionnaire on preferences for redistribution, beliefs, inequality perceptions, and ideological positioning. I find that social preferences covary strongly with self-reported support for increased taxation. Besides, more generous social preference types are more likely to have favourable views towards specific welfare beneficiaries, especially those usually regarded as less deserving, such as migrants, the unemployed, or the poor. Some elements that correlate negatively with preferences for redistribution are being older than 65, having a right-wing ideology, believing that personal effort is the main driver of one’s economic position, and distrusting others; while being a parent or perceiving high inequality have the opposite effect. Social preferences help thus further understand public support for redistribution and the political feasibility of redistributive policies.

‘Let us teach our children’: Online racism and everyday far-right ideologies on TikTok

This paper identifies perceptions of injustice, grievance, and alienation as online drivers of radicalisation by concentrating on contemporary visual radicalisation patterns. It focuses on far-right agents of radicalisation in the UK with a particular analysis of visual and ephemeral drivers of radicalisation on social media platforms. We analysed widespread TikTok hashtags which embody mainstream right-wing ideologies. Using these hashtags, we selected four popular videos (> 30k views) for visual thematic analysis of their compositional content and comment-sphere to explore everyday representations and discourses of far-right ideologies. Our findings highlight mundane online expressions on TikTok that collectively reinforce notions of a shared idealised identity built on nostalgic reinterpretations of an imperial past, which contribute to the mainstreaming of far-right ideas and ideologies.

The Deficit and Contextual Models of Vaccine Hesitancy: A Test of the Mediation Paths

The prevalence of vaccine hesitancy underscores the fact that the general public does not uniformly embrace scientific recommendations. Vaccine hesitancy represents a spectrum, encompassing both those who accept all vaccines and those who outright reject them. This paper aims to explore the relationship between science literacy, contextual factors, and vaccine hesitancy while accounting for specific mediation mechanisms. The authors applied a theoretical framework derived from the deficit model and the contextual model of public understanding of science. Hypotheses regarding the relationship between scientific literacy, religiosity, political identification, and vaccine hesitancy were tested. The authors also tested several hypotheses based on the assumption that the perception of scientific credibility and institutional trust are significant mediators of the above-mentioned relationships. The data from an online survey with a nationally representative quota sample of the Croatian population (with an average age of 42.6 years.) were used ( N = 1,500), while the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that the perception of scientific credibility plays a significant role as a mechanism that translates the impacts of literacy, religiosity, and political identification. Institutional trust proved to be a significant mediator but in a way opposite to the hypotheses, which points to the need to contextualize the aforementioned relationships. The authors also determined that younger age, right-wing political orientation, higher religiosity, and lower scientific literacy were the determinants of hesitancy in both vaccine types (COVID-19 and vaccines in general), thus indicating that they might be connected to deeply rooted value dispositions.

일본정치사회의 분단, 공론장의 위기와 보수화

This article analyzed the conservatism of Japanese political society, focusing on the division of Japanese political society and the crisis of the public sphere. In general, conservatization in Japanese political society focuses on the rise of conservatives due to the decline of innovative forces, excessive representation of right-wing ideologies, and support for conservative forces that led reform discourse in the process of overcoming a long-term recession. However, it is noteworthy that the silence of the general public on political issues is deeply related to conservatism in Japanese political society. This fact is meaningful in that it is possible to grasp the characteristics of the conservatization of Japanese political society, which is carried out regardless of political support. Based on this point, this article examined the characteristics of right-wing conservatism in Japanese society, focusing on the fact that it is a crisis of polarization and public sphere. In conclusion, the polarization of Japanese political society that has intensified since the 2000s and the resulting self-satisfied and present-oriented attitudes of the public have made them passive and subordinate to social affairs. As a result, the conservatist, which are active political participants, are overrepresented, and Japanese political society is being tilted toward conservative and rightward.

Cosmopolitanism and social dominance orientation mediate relationship between political orientation and sexism

Over the past decade, ‘anti-gender discourse’ has been institutionalised by the governing right-wing party in Hungary to a wide effect, from the removal of accreditation from a gender studies MA program to the Parliament's refusal to ratify the Istanbul Convention. The anti-egalitarian backlash echoes those emergent in other countries where right-wing populism has gained ground — such as Poland, Turkey, India, the United States, and Brazil. The present study examined the role of two opposite orientations, cosmopolitanism as an egalitarian worldview and social dominance orientation as the preference for hierarchies and inequality among groups and people in general, in mediating the relationship between political orientation and sexism among a representative Hungarian sample (N = 1000). The path analysis revealed that left-wing political orientation was associated with higher levels of cosmopolitan orientation, while right-wing political orientation was associated with higher levels of SDO. Higher levels of cosmopolitan orientation were associated with a more positive attitude toward feminists and lower levels of modern sexism and gender-based zero-sum thinking, while higher levels of SDO were associated with the opposite. Furthermore, cosmopolitan orientation mediated the relationship between political orientation and modern sexism and attitudes toward feminists, while SDO mediated the relationship between political orientation and modern sexism and gender-based zero-sum thinking. Our study emphasizes the important role of cosmopolitan orientation in opposing SDO and promoting a more egalitarian worldview.

From Rule of Law to the Law of the Ruler: The Twofold Upheaval of the Israeli Right

ABSTRACT: In January 2023, Israel's newly formed coalition under the leadership of the Likud party began to promote a reform that would alter the nature of the regime and undermine the democratic tenets of the separation of powers, judicial review, and the independence of the judicial branch. The article determines that the planned government overhaul diverges sharply from the historic path of "The Likud," and directly contradicts the worldview and policies held by the party's founding father and leader for over three decades, Menachem Begin. In this respect, what is referred to by the current government as a "judicial reform" is in fact a twofold project that aims to reform the regime as well as the foundational policies of law upheld by the ruling political party in Israel for the past four decades. The article sheds light on the substantive ideology attributed to the "right" and the "left" in Israel's political historiography and determines that the essential principles of the proposed reform are not intrinsic to right-wing ideology and should not be identified as such. The sharp departure revealed by the right-wing reform policy and its ideas on questions of democracy and governance at this watershed moment provide a theoretical-historical basis for the analysis of their motivations and processes.

Identifying opposition against increased carbon tax and reduced red meat consumption

Identifying the individual characteristics that predict climate policy support can inform strategies to increase support for climate policies. This study examines how individual characteristics predict support for two policies that are central to the Norwegian Climate Plan, namely increasing the carbon tax and reducing red meat consumption. The study relies on survey data collected from a representative sample of Norwegian citizens (N=2001). The findings show that several individual characteristics negatively predict both carbon tax support and willingness to eat less red meat: 1) being less concerned about climate change, 2) having right-wing political orientation, 3) having lower trust in politicians, 4) living in rural areas, 5) having lower education, and 6) being male. Strategies to increase support for carbon tax and meat reduction should pay particular attention to these groups. Future research should address how to make climate policies more attractive among these segments of the population.

Real-World Developments Predict Immigration News in Right-Wing Media: Evidence from Germany

ABSTRACT Exclusionist positions on immigration have become a key component of right-wing ideology in most countries around the world. Combining group threat and news values theory, this study sheds light on the emergence of right-wing discourses on immigration based on one of Germany’s most influential right-wing print outlets. I employ supervised and unsupervised machine-learning methods on almost 54,000 articles published between 1998 and 2019 to test whether real-world conditions shape immigration news. Results show that reporting on immigration generally increased over time and peaked during the refugee inflow in 2015/16. Immigration numbers, foreigner crime rates, and Jihadist terror attacks predict the salience of the immigration issue in the overall news as well as discursive shifts within immigration news. During times of high immigration, articles were more likely to address topics related to deportation and closing borders or the criminalization of immigration. Terrorism was more present in immigration news after attacks, especially after attacks in Germany. Foreigner crime did not significantly increase reporting on crime in immigration news. In short, right-wing immigration discourses seem responsive to real-world developments and events that enable exclusionary rhetoric and a threatening portrayal of immigrants.

Asymmetries in responses to group-based relative deprivation: The moderating effects of group status on endorsement of right-wing ideology

Feelings of group-based relative deprivation (GRD) motivate collective responses to defend the ingroup. As such, there may be status-based asymmetries in the associations GRD has with ideologies that perpetuate inequality—namely, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO). Study 1 examined this hypothesis using a national sample of adults ( N = 41,007) and revealed that the correlations GRD had with RWA and SDO were positive among members of a high-status group but negative among members of low-status groups. Study 2 examined these associations longitudinally ( N = 22,083) across eight annual assessments. Although a traditional cross-lagged panel analysis identified status-based asymmetries in the longitudinal associations between our variables of interest, analyses partitioning between-person stability from within-person change found no evidence that GRD leads to differences in RWA or SDO (or vice versa). The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Authoritative Populism and the Media: Perception Control and Narrative Building in India

The article analyses the interrelationship between authoritarian populism and the media in India. It explores the core question of political authoritarianism under the rule of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and whether it has exercised control on media. The article explores two main questions: First, what are the dynamics of media control in India, if any? Second, whether media control has played any role in the polarisation of the Indian society. The article employs the theoretical framework of authoritarian populism, using content analysis, to explore whether media has any role to play in the recent upsurge of right-wing Hindu nationalism. The article’s empirical evidence suggest media’s complacent and partisan role, favouring populist political agenda in India. The article highlights that the bulk of Indian media works under the state control, with major newsgroups towing the ruling BJP’s line on exclusivists right-wing ideology. Furthermore, the groups which do not comply have faced governmental repression and clampdown for independent reporting and objective journalism. The article’s original contribution rests in the analyses of authoritarian populism and right-wing nationalist control of the media and the health of democracy in India.

Conspiracy Theories in the US: Who Believes in Them?

Abstract Conspiracy theories have become an increasingly important part of the political realm especially in the United States. More than 30 % of citizens either strongly or somewhat believe in QAnon, the Birther or the Truther conspiracy to name a few of these theories. In this article, I provide an overview of conspiracy theory beliefs and evaluate the factors that make people more likely to believe in such theories. With the help of an original survey comprising 1000 residents in the US, I detect that there is not necessarily a conspirational mindset. While low education, a right-wing ideology seem to increase beliefs in conspiracy theories throughout the board, the effects of other indicators including populist attitudes, low self-esteem and age tend differ based on the conspiracy theory under investigation.

Conspiracy beliefs, COVID-19 vaccine uptake and adherence to public health interventions during the pandemic in Europe.

Conspiracy beliefs can be a major hindrance causing a lack of compliance with public health measures, including vaccination. We examined the relationship between individual attitudes, socio-demographic factors, conspiracy beliefs, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and preferences about pandemic policies in Europe. We used data from the 10th round of the European Social Survey, conducted in 2021-22 in 17 European countries. Both a conspiracy index and a personal attitude index for each participant were built by using a Latent Class Analysis model. Then, we used a multilevel regression model to investigate the relationship between a personal attitudes index, socio-demographic factors and country of residence, and a conspiracy index. We descriptively analyse the relationship between the conspiracy index and four main items related to COVID-19. We found that a higher probability of believing in conspiracy theories was associated with male gender, middle age, lower levels of education, unemployment, lower levels of trust and satisfaction and right-wing political orientation. The country of residence was a contextual factor, with eastern European countries having higher levels of conspiracy beliefs. Individuals who expressed conspiracy beliefs had lower COVID-19 vaccine uptake, were less satisfied with the way health services coped with the pandemic and less supportive of governmental restrictions. This study provides valuable insights into the factors associated with conspiracy beliefs and their potential impact on public health. The findings highlight the need for effective strategies to address the underlying factors driving conspiracy beliefs, reduce vaccine hesitancy and promote acceptance of public health interventions.

Political Legitimation and Charismatic Routinization of Modi ‘Wave’ in India

Modi ‘Wave’ is a political phenomenon that describes a strong hegemon (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) who scripts landslide victories in Indian elections based on political charisma and electoral legitimacy. The consecutive victories of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in national elections 2014 and 2019 is a testimony of charismatic routinization of Modi ‘Wave’. ‘There Is No Alternative’ to Modi seems to be ingrained in the conscious psyche of the electorate (will of the majority), which provides successive leadership legitimacy renewals. The political momentum of Modi’s charisma is a discursive dynamic, but it continues to institutionalize right-wing ideology and expand saffron electoral footprints in India.

“You are either with us, or against us”: The association between dichotomous thinking and political extremism among Israeli voters

Purpose of the study: people prone to political extremism often exhibit a rather simplistic black-and-white view of social reality. This is a consequence of the psychological tendency to perceive and interpret the world in a certain way. The hypothesis underlying this study is that this tendency manifests in a style of thinking defined as “dichotomous thinking”. That is, a tendency to perceive and interpret the world in terms of binary options (i.e., “black or white”, “good or bad”, or “all or nothing”). The study was conducted in Israel during the 2019 election campaign, which initiated a prolonged political crisis leading to deep polarisation between the two main political camps in Israel. Participants (N = 312) completed an online survey, which included a demographic questionnaire and measures of political identification and dichotomous thinking style. The study found both linear and quadratic associations between dichotomous thinking and political identification. Thus, dichotomous thinking was associated with both right-wing political orientation and an overall propensity for political extremism, both right-wing and left-wing. These results provide empirical support for theoretical models suggesting that there is a U-shaped relationship between cognitive rigidity and political identification, but this relationship is stronger at the right end of the political spectrum

Voter’s Perception of Political Messages Against the Elite Classes in Spain: A Quasi‐Experimental Design

Demonization constitutes the construction of a simplified symbolic reality through the prism of hatred. The elite classes have been framed within the discourse of far-left parties in Spain to make them antagonistic to their target audience. In this area, research tends to use explicit measures, but few have used implicit measures. This article aims to assess both types of voter perceptions of anti-elite class messages in Spain. Eighty Spanish voters belonging to left- and right-wing ideologies participated in this study. Implicit attitudes were measured through the implicit association test. The result shows that demonization is deepening in various layers of society in order to provoke a confrontation with the elite classes. Social networks have emerged as a means of social control, but they are not perceived as such by the subjects but rather as an additional informational or purely propagandistic element. But even among the public who are aware of the latter, the more their perception of the elite classes is limited to demonization, the more extreme their social vision is.

Trust and vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-national analysis

Previous studies of vaccine hesitancy in the context of COVID-19 have reported mixed results in terms of the role played by political and institutional trust. This study addresses this ambiguity with a global analysis of the relationship between trust and vaccine hesitancy, disentangling the effects of generalized trust orientations, trust in specific institutions and conspiracy mentality. It first draws upon a cross-national survey of 113 countries to demonstrate that trust in government is a predictor of vaccine hesitancy across global regions. It further draws on original surveys fielded in seven countries (France, Germany, Spain, Argentina, Croatia, Brazil, India), which deploy a diverse range of measures, to disentangle the individual-level predictors of vaccine hesitancy. Our findings confirm the robust effects of trust in government across countries, but when including other trust measures in the same models, the most robust effects are those of trust in health institutions and conspiracy mentality. Weaker associations are observed for right-wing ideology and online political engagement, while the consumption of traditional media tends to predict the willingness of individuals to be vaccinated.

Бразильские правые: краткий очерк исторической траектории в XX – первой четверти XXI вв.

Right-wing parties and movements, as well as right-wing ide-ology, are an important factor in the political life of Latin American countries. By the end of the second decade of the XXI century. more than half of the political regimes of Latin American countries were right-wing or center-right. In the ar-ticle, on the example of the analysis of the Brazilian version of the phenomenon of the right trend, an attempt is made to show the reasons for the very existence and political survival of the right and their popularity in society, the deep rootedness of the right ideology in the depths of public consciousness, its influence on public sentiment. A brief analysis of the ideology and politics of right-wing movements and right-wing political leaders is given – from Getúlio Vargas to Jair Bolsonaro.

A divorce of convenience: exploring radical right populist parties’ position on Putin’s Russia within the context of the Ukrainian war. A social media perspective

ABSTRACT Over the last decade there has been a growing convergence between Putin’s Russia and West European right-wing populist parties (WERPPs) that are growing in consensus around Europe. Such relationship, depicted as “marriage of convenience”, benefits both Putin in his quest for the international legitimization of his political regime and WERPPs in their rally for power at both the national and the European levels. Grounded on a mix of populism, opposition to the European Union and radical right-wing ideology, does this marriage survive the Ukrainian crisis or does it transform itself in a “divorce of convenience”? This work uses an original dataset of more than 900k tweets collected in the period between 2013 and 2022 and produced by two Italian populist parties and shows what shapes WERPPs’ communication about Russia. Moreover, it empirically demonstrates how fragile, mutable and exposed to the influence of contextual factors this relationship is.

Introduction: How Augusto Pinochet’s Constitution Came into Existence and How it Endured until 2022

For the past forty-two years Chile has been governed according to the infamous 1980 Constitution. Bequeathed to the country by its military dictator Augusto Pinochet, this text was originally designed to sustain an infinite de facto dictatorship in Chile. While this did not happen, and despite having been repeatedly amended since 1989, the 1980 Constitution is still considered an illegitimate text by most Chileans, as the 2020 Chilean national plebiscite has illustrated. The introduction provides a genealogy of the 1980 Constitution, explains the right-wing ideology underpinning it, and explores the scholarly debates over its supposed merits and the feasibility of its replacement with a new constitution.

Keep plastics on a tight leash: Swedish public opinion on plastic policies

The environmental effects of the widespread use and production of plastic have gained attention in recent years. Plastic pollution in marine environments, and limitations to systems of circularity and recycling, are increasingly recognised as serious global problems. Policies and governance around plastic are thus expected to expand in scope. This article examines the Swedish public’s opinions on plastic policies using panel survey data (N = 1069) to answer what kinds of policies and regulations hold public support in Sweden. We find that there is relatively high support among Swedes for a wide range of policies to address the issues of plastics. The greatest approval is found around soft policies e.g., the extension of already established regulations, recycling initiatives, and information campaigns. Regulatory and economic policies, such as taxes, bans, and stricter regulations, enjoy comparatively less support from the public, yet a majority is also supporting such measures. There are significant differences between demographic groups: women and people with a left-wing political orientation feel more positive about regulatory and economic policies than men and people with a right-wing political orientation. The most widely approved policies are those concerning recycling and waste management system developments. In contrast to other policies that involve economic incentives, the expansion of the deposit-refund scheme stands out as a policy with very high support across a wide range of groups. Overall, the widespread support for plastic regulation in Sweden indicates favourable conditions for the implementation of several plastics-related policies that go beyond the present measures.