When Do Citizens Listen to Populists? Insights from an Experimental Study

• In Event: New Research on Spanish and Portuguese Politics

Abstract

The European Union has constituted a key wedge issue for challenger populist parties in recent years. Populist parties have politicized the EU, often asserting nationalist values and questioning the EU’s democratic credentials.

This begs the question of how whether this politicization of the European Union impacts on citizens’ (civic and cultural) identification with the European Union and their attitudes towards the EU. In other words, do populist claims regarding the European Union influence citizen attitudes on the European Union?

In this paper, we assess to what extent and how politicizing the EU impacts on national versus European identities of citizens. In particular, we will test which issues and with what focus lead to more pro- or anti-European attitudes and European identity. Likewise, we consider how the nature of politicization impacts on attitudes towards the EU, as well as on voter interest and participation in European Parliament elections.

Empirically, this article presents the results of an experimental study with a factorial design developed in a representative sample of Portuguese citizens, using manipulated campaign materials. The goal of the experiments is to gather evidence of the causal relationship between exposure to specific campaign materials and shifts in attitudes towards Europe and voting intentions. Considering the premise that those who receive additional information about the dimension of European integration vote on this basis, four different European issues were presented: identity, economy, environment, and immigration. In addition, the themes were considered with one of two focuses: a focus on the (positive/ negative) impact of Europe on Portugal; and a focus of Portugal's (positive/ negative) impact on Europe, along with a nationally focused campaigns only.

Authors

• Carlos Jalali, University of Aveiro

• Patricia Silva, University of Aveiro