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Partisanship, elite messages, and support for populism in power

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2020

S. Erdem Aytaç Open the ORCID record for S. Erdem Aytaç [Opens in a new window] ,
Ali Çarkoğlu Open the ORCID record for Ali Çarkoğlu [Opens in a new window]  and
Ezgi Elçi Open the ORCID record for Ezgi Elçi [Opens in a new window]
S. Erdem Aytaç*
Affiliation:
Department of International Relations, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer 34450, Istanbul, Turkey
Ali Çarkoğlu
Affiliation:
Department of International Relations, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer 34450, Istanbul, Turkey
Ezgi Elçi
Affiliation:
Migration Research Center at Koç University (MiReKoç), Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sarıyer 34450, Istanbul, Turkey
*
*E-mail: saytac@ku.edu.tr
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Abstract

Discontent is seen as a critical driver for the appeal of populism, yet studies have typically focused on cases of populism in opposition. We argue that scholars’ emphasis on populism in opposition led them to overlook the roles of elite messages and partisanship in the adoption of populist attitudes. Drawing on theories of elite-driven public opinion, we contend that populist attitudes do not need to be rooted in discontent. In cases of populism in power, those who are more satisfied politically and economically, and partisans of the ruling party should display higher levels of populist attitudes. We provide observational and experimental survey evidence in this direction from Turkey, where a populist party has long been in power. We also find that the dominant characteristic of support for populism in power is an emphasis on popular sovereignty at the expense of institutions of horizontal accountability.

Keywords

populismpopulist attitudespopulism in powerTurkey
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 23 - 39
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Consortium for Political Research

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