Public images of leaders of anti-immigration parties

Perceptions of legitimacy and effectiveness

Bibliographic Data

ID6314528
AuthorsLinda Bos (0000-0002-0160-3490, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands,), Wouter Van Der Brug (0000-0003-4117-1255, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Year2010
Volume16
Issue6
Pages777-799
Publication date2010-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueParty Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1354-0688 • E-ISSN: 1460-3683
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1354068809346004
OpenAlexW2005769303
LanguageEN
Citations received47
References cited34

In the last two decades several anti-immigration parties have risen in Western Europe. Some of these parties have been very successful in elections, whereas others have been rather unsuccessful. Some scholars have argued that this success depends in part on the extent to which voters perceive these parties (and their leaders) as legitimate (not violent or undemocratic) and as effective. However, no studies exist that test the effect of these public perceptions on electoral support. We fill this void by proposing operationalizations of voters’ perceptions of parties in terms of legitimacy and effectiveness. These operationalizations were employed to measure public perceptions of leaders of two anti-immigration parties and leaders of four established parties that participated in the Dutch national parliamentary elections of 2006. The analyses of these data (n = 382) demonstrate the significance of measuring public images directly and show that legitimacy and effectiveness are important predictors of support for anti-immigration parties. Prior research showed that voters evaluate anti-immigration parties largely by the same criteria as they use to evaluate other parties. Our study demonstrates that this is only true when voters consider an anti-immigration party as effective and legitimate

Immigration · Legitimacy · Perception · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public opinion · Public relations · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychology · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics

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