Dark Side of Party Identification? An Empirical Study of Political Trust among Radical Right‐Wing Voters

Abstract

Scholars argue that party identification is a predictor of support for the political system. In this study we explore the relationship between party identification and political trust on the far right of the political spectrum, i.e. among radical right-wing voters known to be anti-elitist and suspicious about political institutions and actors. Political trust is measured as trust in parliament and trust in politicians. Our empirical analyses concentrate on Austria, Denmark and Norway, where radical right parties have attracted widespread public support. Individual-level data from the European Social Survey (2002/2003) are analysed by applying ordinary least squares (OLS) multiple regression analysis. Unlike the general theory of political trust would lead us to argue, the analysis shows overall that party identification of radical right-wing voters does not necessarily increase their trust in parliament and politicians. The results suggest that party identification is negatively related to political trust among radical right-wing voters in Norway while the results are more ambiguous in Denmark and Austria.