Comparative Politics Research Group: Two papers on radical-right voters’ perceptions about societal power structures – Gefjon Off (University of Gothenburg)

In next week’s seminar, Gefjon Off (University of Gothenburg) presents to you two papers:

First, an (already published) paper on young men’s modern sexism in 27 EU countries, co-authored with Nicholas Charron and Amy Alexander,

and second, a single-authored paper with the title “`White men are the victims´: Radical right voters’ perceptions of societal power structures”.

The second paper is in a too early stage to share a full written draft here's a brief introduction to it:

While the first paper uses quantitative survey data analysis from 27 EU countries, the second paper uses qualitative interviews with radical right voters in Germany. Both papers share the same investigated theoretical mechanism: Zero-sum game perceptions in the struggle for power. In the first paper, my co-authors and I argue that young men perceive advances in women’s right as a threat to their own opportunities, which exemplifies perceptions of a zero-sum game between women’s and men’s position in society. In the second paper, I investigate these perceptions more in-depth: How do radical right voters explain their perception that white, hetero men are discriminated against, and other population groups are advantaged? Adding to previous quantitative research on radical right voters’ perceptions of societal power structures, I explain how these voters reason about and justify their perceptions and show how they take into account certain facts about different population groups in explaining their perceptions. Thereby, I add more nuance to the understanding of radical right voters.

I look forward to the seminar and to your feedback!

All the best,

Gefjon”

Comparative Politics Research Group

The Comparative Politics Research Group covers all major research areas in the field, including institutions, democracy and political development, parties and voting behavior, political economy, political psychology, public opinion, and public policy.

We specialize in the politics of OECD countries, but many of us also do research on Eastern Europe, Latin America, and other regions. In recent years, we have developed strong research environments on the study of parties and party systems, polarization and radicalization, and historical political economy.