Not only a territorial matter: The electoral surge of VOX and the anti-libertarian reaction

PLoS One. 2023 Apr 7;18(4):e0283852. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283852. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Although previous work has shown the complexity of motives behind the VOX vote, its emergence is often associated mainly with the Catalan conflict. Our analysis shows that VOX's first electoral success was marked importantly by preferences related to territorial conflict, but also by opposition to immigration, authoritarianism or ideology. The main contribution of the paper lies in demonstrating something that until now had not been empirically verified: the relevance of anti-feminist attitudes amongst the VOX electorate. This shows how, since its onset, these voters have not been so different from voters of other European radical right-wing parties, and how VOX has channelled into elections the reaction against different expressions of a more diverse and egalitarian society.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Attitude*
  • Dissent and Disputes
  • Emigration and Immigration
  • Politics*
  • Territoriality

Grants and funding

The survey was conducted using the Citizen Panel for Social Research (PACIS), a probability-based mixed-modes panel of the Andalusian population self-financed by the Instituto de Estudios Sociales Avanzados (IESA-CSIC) with funding of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) under the program “Proyectos Intramurales” (ref. 201710E018). Rodrigo Ramis Moyano is beneficiary of the University Teacher Training Program (FPU2019) funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.