Mobilization and the Strategy of Populism Theory and Evidence from the United States
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SeriesResearch on Monday
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Speaker(s)Massimo Morelli (Bocconi University, Italy)
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FieldBehavioral Economics
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LocationOnline
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Date and time
February 08, 2021
12:00 - 13:00
This paper proposes a mobilization theory of the adoption of populist strategies and provides evidence from US elections – the presidential elections in 2016 and the 2018 and 2020 House elections. A populist electoral campaign attracts disillusioned voters but may de-mobilize core partisans and/or mobilize core partisans in the other party. A populist strategy is more tempting for outsiders in
districts with low trust in traditional politics and high economic insecurity, and where the election is close.