What if the angry white man is a woman? The gender gap in voting for the populist radical right

The archetypal populist radical right voter is usually thought of as being male, with female voters less likely to back these parties in elections. But many of these parties have nevertheless drawn on a substantial share of support from women. Outlining results from a recent study, Niels Spierings writes that although there is a gender gap in support for populist radical right parties, focusing on their female supporters can provide a more nuanced understanding of their success

The power of symbols in visual propaganda: the meaning behind political logos and flags

Symbols are tools in the field of visual communication through which information can be disseminated. They convey ideas and beliefs, and through repetition they can come to serve as a logo for a brand. This research aims to identify the power of symbols in visual propaganda through analyzing political logos and flags. Political symbols ranging from the far left to the far right are compiled and analyzed in a historical and visual manner. The red star, the hammer and sickle, the cogwheel, the clenched fist, the circle-A, and the cross are some of the symbols under analysis. Their appearances in history are traced from first known appearances to contemporary representations and they are discussed together with their developments, connotations, meanings, and uses. The theoretical part is supplemented by a project, in which the symbols are dissected so that graphical components and colors are presented and elucidated. This research shows that symbols can be employed to signify a political objective. It also demonstrates that shapes, colors, and context determine the understanding and connotations of a symbol

Trust and Tolerance across the Middle East and North Africa: A Comparative Perspective on the Impact of the Arab Uprisings

The protests that swept the Arab Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are expected to have influenced two key civic attitudes fundamental to well-functioning democracies: trust and tolerance. However, systematic comparative assessments of the general patterns and particularities in this region are rare. This contribution theorizes the uprisings’ impact and presents new society-level measurements of trust and tolerance for the MENA, synchronizing over 40 Arab Barometer and World Values Survey surveys on Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and Yemen, from before and after the uprisings. The analyses firstly show political-institutional trust falling in the uprisings’ aftermath in countries that went through democratic reform or regime change. It appears that politicians misbehaving and reforms not resolving social problems hurt people’s trust in politics. Secondly, in democratic transition countries Egypt and Tunisia, a decrease in social trust reflected the pattern of political-institutional trust indicating a spill-over effect. Thirdly, ethno-religious tolerance dropped region-wide after the uprisings, indicating that the aftermath of religious conflict impacted the entire Arab region. These results support rational-choice institutionalist theories, while at the same time refining them for the MENA context