Abstract

This paper seeks to identify factors at the individual- and subnational-levels of analysis that promote votes for populist political parties in Europe in the last decade. Unlike much previous research, the ideological orientation of these parties is considered, which allows for a comparison of their elements of electoral support. The multilevel analyses include regional socioeconomic variables such as income inequality, welfare generosity, unemployment, and poverty in the models. Notably, a separate analysis for a subset of countries examines the relationship between regional wealth inequality and poverty and support for populism using data from the Luxembourg Wealth Study (LWS) Database. Results indicate that status anxiety, mistrust, and perceptions of poor government performance promote votes for populist parties on either end of the ideological spectrum. In contrast, additive and interactive specifications suggest that the socioeconomic characteristics of a region shape whether these votes are cast for parties on the right or left. In addition, migration flows and perceptions of the consequences of immigration also steer votes in one ideological direction or the other.