Right-Wing Populist Campaigns & Young Voters in the 2024 EP Elections

• In Event: All the Young Dudes: Youth Voting in Europe

Abstract

In the 2019 European Parliament (EP) elections, voter turnout rose especially among young voters. This increases their significance for political parties as the difference in participation between age groups narrows. Connecting the literatures on youth & (European) electoral politics, youth & right-wing populism and on (online) targeting and mobilization, this study sounds out the relationship between this demographic group and right-wing populist campaigns in the 2024 elections. This relationship is prima facie rather ambivalent: On the one hand, young voters generally have a comparatively more positive view of EU membership, more trust in the political system and they more often vote issue-based, also regarding issues often discredited by right-wing populists, such as climate change and human rights. On the other hand, young voters display lower levels of party loyalty and higher levels of social media consumption for political information, and they make their voting decisions closer to the election. Given the fact that most populist parties today by far outperform their competitors with respect to social media campaigns, it will be of utmost relevance to study 1.) whether and how right-wing populist parties specifically target young voters in their campaigns, 2.) whether there are significant differences across member states, and 3.) what the electoral effects are in 2024. The analysis focuses on how the parties connect young people to a) particular policy issues, b) a particular position in the European political system, and c) a particular vision for the future. Based on a qualitative content analysis of the platforms as well as online campaign videos issued by right-wing populist parties (between February–June 2024) in Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, and Poland, similarities and differences are identified along these three dimensions. Finally, the findings are related to the post-election sociodemographic analyses of the 2024 (and, for contextualization, of the 2019) elections.

Author

• Julia Simon, University of Bremen