The new right and the welfare state: The electoral relevance of welfare chauvinism and welfare populism in the Netherlands

TLDR

New‑rightist populist parties in the Netherlands have adopted specific welfare‑state positions, namely welfare chauvinism and welfare populism, alongside their well‑documented authoritarian cultural agenda. The article aims to examine the electoral relevance of these welfare‑state views for Dutch new‑rightist populist parties. It does so by analysing a nationally representative survey of 1,972 Dutch respondents. The results show that voters hold high levels of both welfare chauvinism and welfare populism, but only welfare populism, together with cultural motives, predicts support for new‑rightist populist parties, leading to a discussion of ideological competition and suggestions for further research.

Abstract

Next to their well-documented authoritarian cultural agenda, new-rightist populist parties have developed specific views on the welfare state: welfare chauvinism and welfare populism. This article studies the electoral relevance of these views for Dutch new-rightist populist parties by means of survey data representative of the Dutch population ( N = 1972). The electorate of those parties shows high levels of both welfare chauvinism and welfare populism. However, only welfare populism underlies support for new-rightist populist parties in addition to well-known cultural motives. Based on these findings, ideological and electoral competition between political parties is discussed, and suggestions for further research are provided.