Who Supports Anti-Immigrant Parties and Why? A Two-Step approach using the European Social Survey, 2002 - 2012

Abstract: This thesis analyses the popularity of anti-immigrant parties and anti-immigrant opinions in Europe, which have grown rapidly in the 21st century. Diverging from the earlier research on the topic, the preference of anti-immigrant parties is the key variable of interest and it is analyzed using economic, socio-demographic, as well as sociotropic factors. The first six waves of the European Social Survey are used, together with a two-step ordinary least squares estimator, to obtain individual and country-level effects. The findings suggest that both cultural and economic concerns about immigration are driving the parties success. The former has the larger effect, while opinions on ethnicity are divided. The key findings include that preferring an anti-immigrant party is associated with a more positive attitude towards immigration of the same ethnicity, and that education is an insignificant factor when controlling for opinion on immigration.