More Than Just Emotions: The Heterogeneity of Populist Support

Which groups constitute the electorate of populist leaders? How can we disentangle the distinct layers of support in their constituencies? In this research proposal, I argue that we can divide the populist electorate into two main groups, core and periphery, which are based on the strength of levels of support and who show variation in their levels of emotional and rational predispositions. The goal of this project is to create and validate a measurement to distinguish the populist electorate into two main groups based on their levels of support as a proxy for their emotional and rational predispositions. With support from the Kellogg Graduate Research Grant, I will study this issue through survey analysis in preexisting data and an original online survey experiment. This measurement approach not only allows for a cross-national comparison but also for variation in individuals’ levels of emotion and reason, which is novel in the literature.