Economic Shocks, Political Cues, and the Backlash Against Globalization

• In Event: The Politics of the Backlash Against Globalization: Discourse, and Attitudes

Abstract

Do elites prime backlash against globalization? Although the literature on the backlash against globalization has highlighted how political candidates denounce economic integration in order to distract from poor economic performance, we know little about how successful this strategy is in shaping political attitudes. In this paper, I explore the causal effect of the anti-globalization rhetoric on public opinion toward trade and immigration using data from a large-scale survey experiment in the US. Using video excerpts from political ads that aired in previous Congressional elections and vary along the axes of economic nationalism and ethnonationalism as treatment, I test the effect of this type of priming on political attitudes. I also test for the heterogeneity of the treatment effect by demographic factors and local economic context, such as exposure to Chinese import competition. My findings break with traditional accounts of voter preference formation toward globalization and advance the literature by highlighting the role of political leaders’ programs and strategies in shaping individual beliefs about trade and immigration.

Author

• Aycan Katitas, Princeton University