Is Populism Cool Now? : Anti-elitist and nativist attitudes among young Europeans over a 20-year period

The resurgence of right-wing populism has reshaped politics in Western liberal democracies.This thesis uses a demand-supply framework to examine populist attitudes among youngEuropeans over a 20-year period. Specifically, the thesis examines whether increases in coreattitudes linked to right-wing populism—anti-elitism and nativism—can help explain the growthof right-wing populism in Europe. Nativism here reflecting a culturally rooted, homogenous, andantagonistic worldview central to right-wing populism, whereas anti-elitism emphasizesdistrust of established political and societal “elites.” Ten surveys from the European SocialSurvey, with responses from 58,107 Europeans under the age of 30, conducted between 2002and 2023, were analyzed. It was anticipated that anti-elitist and nativist attitudes had becomemore frequent over time, more interconnected, and increasingly linked to higher politicalinterest and voter turnout. Contrary to expectations, both anti-elitist and nativist attitudes didnot increase during this period; rather, a slight decrease was observed. Neither had theybecome more interconnected. While anti-elitism became more strongly associated withpolitical interest and voter turnout, nativism showed no such trend. The results of this thesissuggest that factors other than changes in intrinsic attitudes may explain the growth of rightwing voting among young people in contemporary Europe