ANTI-ELITE POLITICS AND ‘POCKETBOOK ANGER’. EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FROM FRANCE, GERMANY AND THE UNITED STATES
Many observers have noticed the importance of anger in contemporary politics, particularly with reference to populism. The talk addresses the question under which conditions people become angry about a specific aspect of their lives: their personal financial situation. Specifically, it asks if populist anti-elite rhetoric has a causal influence on ‘pocketbook anger’ and if this influence differs across socio-economic groups. The theoretical expectation is that anti-elite rhetoric makes it easier for people to externalize responsibility for an unfavorable financial situation and thereby to turn negative self-conscious emotions into anger. The argument is tested with original survey data from France, Germany, and the United States. The empirical analysis yields three main insights. First, negative emotional reactions to respondents’ personal finances are surprisingly widespread. Second, there is a pronounced socio-economic gradient in the distribution of anger. Third, randomly exposing participants to anti-elite rhetoric in many cases causes higher expressed anger about one’s financial situation.
Date: 4 February 2020, 12:30 (Tuesday, 3rd week, Hilary 2020)
Venue: Nuffield College, New Road OX1 1NF
Venue Details: Clay Room
Speaker: Paul Marx (University of Dusburg-Essen)
Organising department: Nuffield College
Organisers: David Rueda (Nuffield College), Ezequiel Gonzalez Ocantos (Nuffield College), Andy Eggers (Nuffield College)
Organiser contact email address: maxine.collett@nuffield.ox.ac.uk
Part of: Nuffield College Political Science Seminars
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Maxine Collett