Residential Constraints and the Political Geography of the Populist Radical Right

What explains variation in populist radical right (PRR) support within Western democracies? Counterintuitively, and against both the popular narrative and prior research, PRR parties are often and increasingly stronger in areas seemingly removed from their key programmatic issues related to immigration and the effects of growing international economic and political integration. To explain this puzzle, I articulate a theory of residential constraints as a key driver of PRR support. I hypothesize that when citizens’ means of reacting to local conditions or “voting with their feet” are blocked, they are more likely to support PRR parties. Within a comparative, cross-national “most-different-systems” framework of Finland and France, I use a multi-method research design and exploit both quantitative and qualitative evidence to test this claim. I demonstrate that the PRR performs well in areas where access to services and opportunities are compromised, where locals are more residentially constrained, and where opportunities and incentives to relocate are blocked by economic considerations.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D., Government

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctor of Philosophy

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Government

Grantor

Cornell University

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Patana, Pauliina

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Kuo, Alexander
• Way, Christopher Robert
• Tarrow, Sidney G.

• Comparative Politics
• Political Behavior
• Political Economy
• Political Geography
• Political Parties
• Populist Radical Right

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7298/nn7x-e196

Dc Identifier Other

ProQuest Submission ID: 12162
ProQuest Publication ID: 28086440

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ecommons.cornell.edu:1813/103090