Terrorism and Political Attitudes: Evidence from European Social Surveys

Giovanni Peri, Daniel Rees and Brock Smith

No 28662, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Since the turn of the last century, nationalistic political parties have been gaining support in Europe. Over the same period, terror attacks have increased. Using data from European Social Surveys (ESS), we examine the effects of terror attacks involving at least one fatality on attitudes towards immigrants and government institutions. Comparing within-country responses to the ESS shortly before and after fatal terror attacks, we find little evidence of a shift in attitudes against immigrants. Consistent with “rally-around-the flag” effects documented by political scientists, ESS respondents living in the region that was attacked tend to express more trust in parliament and more satisfaction with the national government in the post- as compared to the pre-attack period. Similarly, we find evidence that particularly salient terror attacks can produce nationwide rally-around-the-flag effects.

JEL-codes: H56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-pol and nep-soc
Note: PE POL
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published as Giovanni Peri & Daniel I. Rees & Brock Smith, 2022. "Terrorism and political attitudes: Evidence from European social surveys," Regional Science and Urban Economics, .

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Journal Article: Terrorism and political attitudes: Evidence from European social surveys (2023)
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