Empowered and enraged : political efficacy, anger, and support for populism in Europe
Rico, Guillem (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Política i de Dret Públic)
Guinjoan Cesena, Marc (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Política i de Dret Públic)
Anduiza, Eva (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Política i de Dret Públic)

Date:	2020
Abstract:	This article addresses the psychological dynamics between internal political efficacy, emotions and support for populism. Contrary to the extended idea that populism is associated with low levels of political competence, it is argued that individuals' self-competence beliefs enhance populist attitudes. Individuals who conceive themselves as able to understand and participate effectively in politics are more critical towards politicians and more prone to consider that citizens could do a better job. The article also hypothesises that internal efficacy enhances the likelihood of experiencing anger, which in turn promotes populist attitudes. Experimental and comparative observational evidence shows robust direct effects of internal efficacy over populism, as well as a smaller indirect impact via feelings of anger. These findings raise important questions regarding the nature of populism and how to fight it in our emancipated and information-intensive democratic systems.
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Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Published in:	European journal of political research, Vol. 59, núm. 4 (Novembre 2020) , p.797-816, ISSN 1475-6765
Related work:	Rico, Guillem; Anduiza, Eva; Comellas Bonsfills, Josep Maria, 2025, "Encuesta de Actitudes Populistas en España / Survey on Populist Attitudes in Spain (2018)", https://doi.org/10.34810/data2571, CORA.Repositori de Dades de Recerca https://doi.org/10.34810/data2571

DOI: 10.1111/1475-6765.12374

13 p, 4.1 MB

Postprint 29 p, 336.0 KB

Annex Postprint 5 p, 149.4 KB

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