ABSTRACT
Yesterday, the working class was the core clientele of the left. Today, all over Europe, it is increasingly giving support to the radical right. The political impact of this shift is considerable, because manual workers still represent at least a quarter of the electorate. The trend has already been documented by a host of studies (Betz 1994, 2004b; see also Kitschelt and McGann 1995; Lubbers et al. 2002; Ivarsflaten 2005; Oesch 2008; Spies 2010). But they do not agree on the explanatory variables, they rarely cover a long span of time and their methodologies, especially in terms of key indicators of social class and vote choice, are seldom identical.
