Abstract
There is growing interest in political inequality across income groups. This article contributes to this debate with two arguments about political involvement: poverty depresses internal political efficacy by undermining cognitive and emotional resources; and dissent in the party system reduces the efficacy gap to higher incomes. Specifically, conflict is to be expected between anti-elite and mainstream parties to simplify political decisions and stimulate political attention among poor voters. These arguments are supported with comparative and experimental analyses. Comparative survey data shows that the income gap in efficacy varies with a novel measure of the anti-elite salience in the party system. The causal impact of anti-elite rhetoric is established though a representative survey experiment. Finally, the article investigates how these mechanisms affect both electoral and other forms of political participation.
Original language | English |
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Journal | European Journal of Political Research |
Volume | 57 |
Issue number | 4 |
Pages (from-to) | 919-940 |
ISSN | 0304-4130 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1. Nov 2018 |
Keywords
- anti-elite politics
- inequality
- political efficacy
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Dive into the research topics of 'Anti-elite parties and political inequality: How challenges to the political mainstream reduce income gaps in internal efficacy'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Related prizes
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Grant from North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Sciene to establish a research group on "The influence of socio-economic problems on political integration" (9.3 Mio. DKK)
Marx, P. (Recipient), 2017
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