Economic Growth and the Rise of Political Extremism

Markus Brückner and Hans Grüner ()
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Hans Grüner: University of Mannheim and CEPR

No 2011-05, School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers from University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy

Abstract: In many western democracies, political parties with extreme platforms challenge more moderate incumbents. This paper analyses the impact of economic growth on the support for extreme political platforms. We provide a theoretical argument in favor of growth effects (as opposed to level effects) on the support for extreme political parties and we empirically investigate the relationship between growth and extremist votes. Lower growth rates benefit right-wing and nationalist parties, but do not have a robust positive effect on the support for communist parties. Our estimates indicate that extreme political platforms are unlikely to gain majorities in OECD countries, unless there is an extreme drop in the GDP per capita growth rate.

Keywords: political regimes; political extremism; economic growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O40 O52 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2011-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-fdg and nep-pol
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:adl:wpaper:2011-05

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