COUNTERRIGHT

2024

1. 

   How to Break Populist Parties’ Appeal? An Experimental Evaluation of Communication Counter-Strategies

   Heike Klüver, Ferdinand Geissler, Felix Hartmann, Johannes Giesecke, Lukas Stoetzer, and Petra Schleiter

   Jul 2024

   abstract url Bib

   Right-wing populists are on the rise all over Europe. How can mainstream parties effectively counter right-wing populist parties? While prior research has predominantly studied the drivers of populist support, little is known about how to effectively counter populists. We test the effect of four communication strategies to populist rhetoric: Highlighting the role of mainstream parties in representing citizen interests, emphasizing the performance of mainstream parties, revealing the self-interest of populists and appealing to alternative identities. We test the effect of these strategies through a large-scale survey experiment that we fielded among more than 24,000 respondents in Germany by relying on real-world messages of mainstream parties identified in social media, manifestos and press releases of political parties. Overall, the results show that exposing populist parties as self-serving is an effective counter strategy for mainstream parties, particularly among voters who initially showed high support for right-wing populists

   @misc{kluver_how_2024,
     title = {How to {Break} {Populist} {Parties}’ {Appeal}? {An} {Experimental} {Evaluation} of {Communication} {Counter}-{Strategies}},
     copyright = {https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode},
     shorttitle = {How to {Break} {Populist} {Parties}’ {Appeal}?},
     url = {https://osf.io/h5prv},
     doi = {10.31219/osf.io/h5prv},
     urldate = {2025-05-09},
     publisher = {Open Science Framework},
     author = {Klüver, Heike and Geissler, Ferdinand and Hartmann, Felix and Giesecke, Johannes and Stoetzer, Lukas and Schleiter, Petra},
     month = jul,
     year = {2024},
     project_counterright = {true}
   }

2023

1. 

   Can Wedge Strategies by Mainstream Parties Cross-Cut the Anti-Immigration Far Right Vote?

   Violeta I. Haas, Lukas F. Stoetzer, Petra Schleiter, and Heike Klüver

   Electoral Studies, Jun 2023

   abstract url Bib

   Anti-immigration campaigns have helped far right parties to establish themselves in party systems around the world. We examine whether mainstream parties can employ wedge issue campaigns that divide the far right anti-immigration vote to win back electoral support. Wedge issues that cross-cut the anti-immigration vote may enhance the electoral support of mainstream parties, as long as they do not simultaneously alienate pro-immigration voters. We evaluate this expectation using a panel survey experiment conducted during the 2021 German federal election. The first wave allows us to identify wedge issues that the mainstream CDU/CSU can stress to cross-cut the anti-immigration vote. The second wave raises the salience of these issues by manipulating the perceived issue agenda of the CDU/CSU using hypothetical campaign posters. While our results show that wedge issue strategies are not effective on average, exploratory analyses reveal the potential of strategically targeted messaging in winning back support of some anti-immigration voters.

   @article{haas_can_2023,
     title = {Can {Wedge} {Strategies} by {Mainstream} {Parties} {Cross}-{Cut} the {Anti}-{Immigration} {Far} {Right} {Vote}?},
     volume = {83},
     issn = {02613794},
     url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0261379423000392},
     doi = {10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102617},
     language = {en},
     urldate = {2025-06-05},
     journal = {Electoral Studies},
     author = {Haas, Violeta I. and Stoetzer, Lukas F. and Schleiter, Petra and Klüver, Heike},
     month = jun,
     year = {2023},
     pages = {102617},
     project_counterright = {true}
   }

2022

1. 

   Perceived Inequality and Populism

   Lukas Stoetzer, Johannes Giesecke, and Heike Klüver

   Dec 2022

   abstract url Bib

   Rising inequalities have been described as a fertile ground for populist parties allover the globe. In this article, we argue that the perception of inequality alone canstrengthen populist attitudes and increase support for populist parties. Using datafrom the International Social Survey Programme, we find that those who perceivegreater inequality in society are more likely to support populist parties. To explorethe causal relationship, the study also conducts a survey experiment in Denmark,Germany, and Italy, randomly exposing participants to factual information aboutthe wealth distribution. The results show that the perception of inequality canincrease populist attitudes, but does not immediate affect the likelihood of votingfor populist parties in this context. The findings speak to current debates on howinequality and their perception became a pre-condition for the rise of populistparties all over Europe.

   @misc{stoetzer_perceived_2022,
     title = {Perceived {Inequality} and {Populism}},
     copyright = {https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode},
     url = {https://osf.io/zqa5x},
     doi = {10.31219/osf.io/zqa5x},
     urldate = {2025-06-06},
     publisher = {Open Science Framework},
     author = {Stoetzer, Lukas and Giesecke, Johannes and Klüver, Heike},
     month = dec,
     year = {2022},
     project_counterright = {true}
   }