Economic Conditions and the Rise of Anti-Democratic Extremism

Benjamin Crost

Empirical Studies of Conflict Project (ESOC) Working Papers from Empirical Studies of Conflict Project

Abstract: This paper provides evidence that adverse economic conditions contributed to the rise of anti-democratic extremism in the United States. A state-level analysis shows that increases in the unemployment rate during the Great Recession led to a large increase in the number of anti democratic extremist groups. The effect is concentrated in states with high pre-existing racial resentment, as proxied by racist web searches, and strongest for the male unemployment rate and the white unemployment rate. If unemployment had remained at its pre-recession level, the increase in anti-democratic groups between 2007 and 2010 could have been reduced by more than 60%.

Keywords: United States; Great Recession; Economic Conditions; Unemployment; Anti-Democratic Extremism; Anti-Government Movement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D74 H56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pol
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: Economic Conditions and the Rise of Anti-Democratic Extremism (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pri:esocpu:24

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