2025 | Lukas F. Stötzer, Johannes Giesecke and Heike Klüver

Perceived inequality as fertile ground for populism

Why are more and more people turning to populist parties? A new study by Lukas F. Stoetzer, Johannes Giesecke, and Heike Klüver shows that not only actual social inequality matters, but also how unequal people perceive their society to be. Those who believe that wealth and influence are concentrated in the hands of a few are more likely to develop populist attitudes – regardless of how strong objective inequality actually is.

Over the past decades, income and wealth disparities have widened significantly in many European countries. At the same time, support for populist parties has increased. Previous research has shown that rising inequality tends to foster populist movements. The new study, published in the European Journal of Political Research, goes a step further by exploring why and how this link emerges. The authors argue that it is not so much the economic structures themselves that fuel populism, but rather the perception that society is unjustly organized and that political elites primarily serve the interests of the wealthy.

Drawing on data from nearly 40,000 individuals across 20 European countries, the researchers find that people who perceive their society as highly unequal are 2.7 percentage points more likely to support a populist party than those who view their society as fairer. This relationship is particularly pronounced for larger right-wing populist parties such as the Danish People’s Party (DF) and the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), but it also holds for other populist parties.

A complementary experiment conducted in Germany, Denmark, and Italy further shows that information about actual wealth distribution increases perceptions of inequality—and strengthens populist attitudes. However, in the short term, this does not immediately translate into a higher intention to vote for populist parties.

The findings highlight that populism is driven not only by material inequality, but also by the feeling of living in an unfair society.

Contact information

Picture:
1 – Lea Kobal (@leyko) / Unsplash / |eat the rich|

2025 | Ðorđe Milosav, Zachary Dickson, Sara B. Hobolt, Heike Klüver, Theresa Kuhn and Toni Rodon

Young, male, right-wing? Gender gap among young voters

A clear political shift to the right is emerging among Europe’s younger generation – driven primarily by young men. A new study based on representative data from all 27 EU member states shows: right-wing populist and far-right parties receive significantly more support among young men than among young women.

More than 21 percent of men under 30 support a right-wing populist or far-right party – among women of the same age, the figure is only around 14 percent. This gender gap is no coincidence: on average, young women represent significantly more progressive societal values than young men.

The analysis is based on data from the European Election Studies (EES) 2024, which surveyed almost 25,000 people across Europe. Long-term comparisons with previous EES surveys since 1989 show: the gender gap in voting behavior is particularly pronounced among Millennials and Generation Z – and continues to grow.

As political influences in young adulthood often have long-term effects on attitudes and voting behavior, this Europe-wide trend raises key questions for the future of democratic societies.

Contact information

Photo:
1 – Delstudio / Dreamstime / Gender symbols on earth background with a big crack, gender gap concept.