Vote metropolitanization after the transnational cleavage and the suburbanization of radical right populism: the cases of London and Rome

Voters’ division into opposing territorial blocs seems to be a noticeable feature of current European electoral politics, as mainstream traditional-left parties remain entrenched in the ‘centers’ and challenger parties of the populist Right surge in the ‘peripheries’. This electoral dynamic appears...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mirko Crulli
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Firenze University Press 2022-01-01
Series:QOE-IJES
Subjects:
Online Access:https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/qoe/article/view/12099
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849716701670670336
author Mirko Crulli
author_facet Mirko Crulli
author_sort Mirko Crulli
collection DOAJ
description Voters’ division into opposing territorial blocs seems to be a noticeable feature of current European electoral politics, as mainstream traditional-left parties remain entrenched in the ‘centers’ and challenger parties of the populist Right surge in the ‘peripheries’. This electoral dynamic appears to affect especially the metropolitan areas, where inner districts represent the bastions of cosmopolitanism, while the outer ones the realm of ethnonationalism. In this regard, some authors argue that advanced societies are affected by a ‘metropolitanization of politics’ process. Against this backdrop, the present contribution advances the thesis that the emergence of the ‘transnational cleavage’ and its strengthening during the ‘long post-Recession decade’ (2008-2019) gave a boost to the electoral metropolitanization process. This thesis is tested on two case studies: London and Rome, the capitals of two countries where populist radical right forces proliferated in the 2010s and apparently widened the division between centers and suburbs. First, I investigate whether there has really been a pattern of metropolitanization of the vote in London and Rome. Second, relying on the data collected by the British Election Study (BES) and the Italian National Election Studies (ITANES), I verify whether the presumed electoral polarization corresponds to the concentration of GAL (green/alternative/libertarian) values in inner districts and TAN (tradition/authority/national) values in the suburbs. Findings help to discern not only if the metropolitanization of politics thesis holds in the UK and in Italy, but also if the transnational cleavage has a rooted territorial dimension.
format Article
id doaj-art-aa74702da084478ba7c9f3d76d361778
institution DOAJ
issn 0392-6753
2724-4679
language English
publishDate 2022-01-01
publisher Firenze University Press
record_format Article
series QOE-IJES
spelling doaj-art-aa74702da084478ba7c9f3d76d3617782025-08-20T03:12:54ZengFirenze University PressQOE-IJES0392-67532724-46792022-01-0185110.36253/qoe-12099Vote metropolitanization after the transnational cleavage and the suburbanization of radical right populism: the cases of London and RomeMirko Crulli0University of Pisa Voters’ division into opposing territorial blocs seems to be a noticeable feature of current European electoral politics, as mainstream traditional-left parties remain entrenched in the ‘centers’ and challenger parties of the populist Right surge in the ‘peripheries’. This electoral dynamic appears to affect especially the metropolitan areas, where inner districts represent the bastions of cosmopolitanism, while the outer ones the realm of ethnonationalism. In this regard, some authors argue that advanced societies are affected by a ‘metropolitanization of politics’ process. Against this backdrop, the present contribution advances the thesis that the emergence of the ‘transnational cleavage’ and its strengthening during the ‘long post-Recession decade’ (2008-2019) gave a boost to the electoral metropolitanization process. This thesis is tested on two case studies: London and Rome, the capitals of two countries where populist radical right forces proliferated in the 2010s and apparently widened the division between centers and suburbs. First, I investigate whether there has really been a pattern of metropolitanization of the vote in London and Rome. Second, relying on the data collected by the British Election Study (BES) and the Italian National Election Studies (ITANES), I verify whether the presumed electoral polarization corresponds to the concentration of GAL (green/alternative/libertarian) values in inner districts and TAN (tradition/authority/national) values in the suburbs. Findings help to discern not only if the metropolitanization of politics thesis holds in the UK and in Italy, but also if the transnational cleavage has a rooted territorial dimension. https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/qoe/article/view/12099Electoral BehaviorTerritorial CleavagesVote MetropolitanizationTransnational CleavagePopulism
spellingShingle Mirko Crulli
Vote metropolitanization after the transnational cleavage and the suburbanization of radical right populism: the cases of London and Rome
QOE-IJES
Electoral Behavior
Territorial Cleavages
Vote Metropolitanization
Transnational Cleavage
Populism
title Vote metropolitanization after the transnational cleavage and the suburbanization of radical right populism: the cases of London and Rome
title_full Vote metropolitanization after the transnational cleavage and the suburbanization of radical right populism: the cases of London and Rome
title_fullStr Vote metropolitanization after the transnational cleavage and the suburbanization of radical right populism: the cases of London and Rome
title_full_unstemmed Vote metropolitanization after the transnational cleavage and the suburbanization of radical right populism: the cases of London and Rome
title_short Vote metropolitanization after the transnational cleavage and the suburbanization of radical right populism: the cases of London and Rome
title_sort vote metropolitanization after the transnational cleavage and the suburbanization of radical right populism the cases of london and rome
topic Electoral Behavior
Territorial Cleavages
Vote Metropolitanization
Transnational Cleavage
Populism
url https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/qoe/article/view/12099
work_keys_str_mv AT mirkocrulli votemetropolitanizationafterthetransnationalcleavageandthesuburbanizationofradicalrightpopulismthecasesoflondonandrome