A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Conditional single-issue political entrepreneurship: The impact of education and attitudinal predictors on support for the Finns Party




AuthorsHansen, Michael A.; Leino, Mikko

PublisherElsevier

Publication year2024

JournalElectoral Studies

Article number102874

Volume92

ISSN0261-3794

eISSN1873-6890

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2024.102874

Web address https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2024.102874

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/458529740


Abstract

This study explores support for the populist far-right Finns Party in the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election. In the 2023 election, the Finns Party obtained their largest historical vote share, which led to the party's inclusion in the current coalition government. Utilizing an original, nationally representative survey, we find that Finns Party support can mainly be explained by political entrepreneurship and the attraction of voters holding anti-immigrant sentiment. While we find that other attitudes had some relationship with Finns Party support, the substantive impact of these attitudes is far less substantial than are attitudes towards immigrants. Further, we find that the impact of attitudes towards immigrants and Finns Party vote choice intention is conditional on education level. Attitudes towards immigrants have a more limited impact on Finns Party support for respondents at higher education levels when compared with those at lower levels. The findings hold significance for the broader literature on populist parties, demonstrating that education can significantly diminish the translation of anti-immigration attitudes into support for far-right parties.


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Funding information in the publication
This work was supported by the Research Council of Finland project "Facing systemic change together: Citizen deliberation in informed and just climate transitions" (decision number 341373).


Last updated on 2025-27-01 at 19:23