Divided we stand: Attitudes, social classes, and voting for the radical right after the Great Recession in Europe

Part of the literature identifies the core constituency of radical right parties (RRPs) in the so-called “modernization losers”. But while analysing the social bloc supporting RRPs, the literature often treats the matter as a monolithic bloc rather than focusing on the different expectations of such a heterogeneous electorate. Our findings indicate that political attitudes and other social characteristics influence the voting behaviour in different ways depending on the voter’s social backgrounds. Our study indicates that while cultural nativism is a common trait of the RR electorate, economic nativism is a significant predictor only for small-business owners and production workers. Our results also indicate also that the significance of Euroscepticism and political distrust as predictors of a RR vote varies across social backgrounds. We conclude by highlighting the need for further research to differentiate within the RR electorate.