Populist Parties and Religiosity in Driving Anti-democratic Elite Attitudes

• In Event: Secular-Religious Cleavage and Party Competition in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

Many right-wing populist (RWP) parties are found in highly religious countries. Research shows that religiosity itself is associated with anti-democratic attitudes among citizens. In this paper, I focus on the relationship between religiosity and populism among elites and ask two questions: (i) To what extent is right-wing populism exacerbating preferences stemming from religiosity? (ii) To what extent do the effects of religiosity differ in RWP and non-RWP parties? I examine these questions for political elites since they are the ones who can legislate and implement policies based on their attitudes. Using original data from surveys of politicians in India (2019) and Pakistan (2018), I examine how religiosity influences elite attitudes towards protection of human rights in the face of security challenges, support for media and social media censorship, and support for independent empowered courts. I find that (a) populist party membership amplifies the anti-democratic effects of religiosity on support for human rights and judicial independence but not censorship in both countries and (b) non-populist party membership dampens the negative effects of religiosity for all outcomes in Pakistan but only for security in India. These results therefore show that the effects of individual elite religiosity varies depending on the type of political party they are affiliated with. Given the rise of populist parties in highly religious societies around the world, these results are a matter of concern as they do not augur well for key elements of liberal democracy.

Author

• Vineeta Yadav, Pennsylvania State University