Voting for the PVV in the Netherlands based on educational level and region: an explanatory and comparative perspective Annabel Scheepers Master Thesis Supervisor: Henk van Houtum Internship supervisor: Josse de Voogd Human Geography Europe: Borders, Identity and Governance 1 21-6-2020 Preface The rise of radical right parties has been of special interest to media as well as to academics, especially in times of increasing polarization of society (Mudde, 2012). In the Netherlands the PVV is known as one of the major radical right parties as it portrays many characteristics of radical right parties: nationalistic, against involvement from the European Union and anti-migration (Vossen, 2011). In this research different explanations are explored for differences in electoral support for a radical right party in the Netherlands i.e. the PVV. The discrepancies between voters are based on individual and geographical differences. In this thesis the different motives for voting the PVV are studied as well as connecting them to individual and geographical aspects of the electoral support of the PVV. This thesis was completed based on national data gathered on the occasion of the elections for the House of Representatives in the Netherlands in 2017. I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Henk van Houtum from Radboud University for his guidance in the process of writing this thesis. Furthermore, I would like to thank Josse de Voogd for his inspiring input and his supervision during my internship. Nijmegen, June 2020 2 Table of contents Preface................................................................................................................................................2 Table of contents ................................................................................................................................3 Abstract ..............................................................................................................................................5 1.Introduction .....................................................................................................................................7 1.1 Societal context: the political climate in the Netherlands anno 2017 ...........................................9 1.2 The radical right ...................................................................................................................... 10 1.3 The PVV ................................................................................................................................. 11 1.4 Societal relevance.................................................................................................................... 12 1.5 Scientific relevance ................................................................................................................. 14 1.6 Objectives and research question(s) ......................................................................................... 17 1.7 Thesis outline .......................................................................................................................... 18 2. Theory .......................................................................................................................................... 19 2.1 Individual characteristics ......................................................................................................... 19 2.2 Geographical differences ......................................................................................................... 25 3. Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 31 3.1 Design..................................................................................................................................... 31 3.2 Data ........................................................................................................................................ 31 3.3. Operationalization of variables ............................................................................................... 32 3.3.1. Dependent variable .......................................................................................................... 32 3.3.2 Variables on individual level ............................................................................................ 32 3.3.3 Variables on the national level .......................................................................................... 34 3.3.4 Control variables .............................................................................................................. 35 3.4 Analysis .................................................................................................................................. 36 4.Results ........................................................................................................................................... 39 4.1 Descriptive results: bivariate relationships ............................................................................... 39 4.1.1 Educational level and voting for the radical right .............................................................. 39 4.1.2 Region and voting for the radical right .............................................................................. 39 4.1.3 Migrant threat ................................................................................................................... 40 4.1.4 National pride ................................................................................................................... 41 4.1.5 Populism .......................................................................................................................... 42 4.1.6 Political trust .................................................................................................................... 43 4.1.7 Political external efficacy ................................................................................................. 44 4.1.8 Euroscepticism ................................................................................................................. 45 4.2 Testing hypotheses: multivariate relationships ......................................................................... 46 4.2.1 Model design .................................................................................................................... 46 3 4.2.2 Results concerning educational level ................................................................................. 47 4.2.3. Results concerning regional differences ........................................................................... 54 4.2.4. Results concerning control variables ................................................................................ 60 5.Conclusions and discussion ............................................................................................................ 61 5.1 Conclusions concerning educational level .......................................................................... 61 5.2 Conclusions concerning geographical differences .............................................................. 64 5.3 Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 67 6. References .................................................................................................................................... 70 7. Appendix ...................................................................................................................................... 85 7.1 Appendix A: conceptual model................................................................................................ 85 7.2 Appendix B: results of factor analysis for the purpose of the method section ............................ 86 7.2.1 Migrant threat ................................................................................................................... 86 7.2.2 Populism .......................................................................................................................... 86 7.2.3 Euroscepticism ................................................................................................................. 86 7.2.4 Political distrust ................................................................................................................ 87 7.2.5. External political efficacy ................................................................................................ 87 7.2.6 National pride ................................................................................................................... 87 7.3 Appendix C: multicollinearity ................................................................................................. 88 7.4 Appendix D: additional analysis fur the purpose of hypothesis 8 .............................................. 89 7.5 Appendix E: overview hypotheses ........................................................................................... 90 4 Abstract Due to their increasing popularity, radical right parties are a force to be reckoned with in contemporary politics in the whole of Europe, but also in the Netherlands (Mudde, 2012). Radical right parties are characterized by certain traits such as: nativism, authoritarianism and populism (Mudde, 2007). In the Netherlands, the PVV (Party for Freedom) fits these criteria (Vossen, 2011). The PVV was founded in 2004 by Geert Wilders, who is a former