16:50 - 18:30
P5-S106
Room: -1.A.02
Chair/s:
Jacob Edenhofer
Discussant/s:
Sophie Borwein
When do cleavages matter for democracy perceptions? An analysis of old, new and subjective divides
P5-S106-5
Presented by: Franziska Maier, Vanessa Schwaiger
Franziska Maier 1Vanessa Schwaiger 1
1 University of Stuttgart
2 University of Stuttgart
Several empirical studies have connected rising anti-democratic attitudes with societal conflicts. These conflicts are categorized through a multitude of conflict lines, such as old cleavages (like class), new cleavages (like globalization support), or subjective perception of status loss (like societal recognition). Throughout these studies, anti-democratic attitudes are often linked to the so-called “losers” of globalization who are categorized as disadvantaged and left behind. However, these different conflict lines have rarely been brought together in a more encompassing understanding of what drives democratic alienation. This paper employs latent class analysis to identify profiles of globalization winners and losers by combining variables based on old, new and subjective divides in Germany and the US. It finds both the existence of stereotypical “losers” (i.e. globalization opponents with low incomes who feel deprived), but also more complex combinations (such as affluent individuals who feel subjectively deprived and oppose globalization despite their being well off). Regression analyses connect these profiles to democratic preferences to analyze which combinations actually fuel anti-democratic sentiment, and which merely prefer democratic alternatives to the status quo. It goes beyond basic political attitudes and investigates how this translates to support for right-wing parties or candidates (e.g. Trump and the AfD respectively), a connection that is frequently assumed to exist among globaliazation losers.
Keywords: political preferences, cleavages, globalization, inequality

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