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Cultural Backlash? How (Not) to Explain the Rise of Authoritarian Populism
Open accessAbstract
This book review examines the theory of populism advanced by Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart in Cultural Backlash. The authors offer a distinct explanation of the rise of authoritarian populism in advanced democracies. As societies become more liberal over time, older, more conservative cohorts feel under threat of losing majority status and allegedly turn towards authoritarian-populist parties that promise to stop the tide of liberalism. However, this theory of populism finds little empirical support. In contrast to what the authors argue, there is no polarization of attitudes between younger and older cohorts, and younger cohorts are more likely to vote for authoritarian-populist parties. To substantiate this claim, I replicate many of the analyses in Cultural Backlash and add additional ones with the newest wave of the European Social Survey and the Chapel Hill Expert Survey. I conclude by observing that while the cultural backlash theory of populism does not hold, this does not invalidate cultural approaches more generally.
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“there is little proof of one between authoritarianism and populist support per se”
From Post-Populism: Transitions from Populist to Personalist Authoritarian Rule (2023) · cites this paper as Schäfer, 2022
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“One likely driver of increasing affective polarization, and thus misinformation, is the rise of authoritarian populism in many Western countries, which itself may arise from economic insecurities or backlash to progressive cultural change (Inglehart & Norris, 2016; but see Schäfer, 2022).”
From Social Drivers and Algorithmic Mechanisms on Digital Media. (2024) · cites this paper as Schäfer, 2022
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Cited by
Social Drivers and Algorithmic Mechanisms on Digital Media.
Metzler, H., & Garcia, D. (2024) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/17456916231185057 · Cited by 204
“One likely driver of increasing affective polarization, and thus misinformation, is the rise of authoritarian populism in many Western countries, which itself may arise from economic insecurities or backlash to progressive cultural change (Inglehart & Norris, 2016; but see Schäfer, 2022).”
BackgroundPost-Populism: Transitions from Populist to Personalist Authoritarian Rule
Balta, E., Baturo, A., & Kenny, P. (2023) · doi:10.33774/apsa-2023-zpppw · Cited by 2
Metadata
- Authors
- Schäfer, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Münster (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Schäfer, Armin
- ORCID
- Schäfer, Armin
- Venue
- British Journal of Political Science
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2021-09-24
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1977-1993
- ISSN
- 0007-1234 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-2112
- OpenAlex
- W3203511308
- Cited by
- 126
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 57.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- British Journal of Political Science (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Populism, Right-Wing Movements
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Keywords
- authoritarian populism, Inglehart, generational differences, liberalization, advanced democracies, replication, European Social Survey, Chapel Hill Expert Survey
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