ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to understand the phenomenon of so-called ‘unnatural’ voting right-wing voting by lower-status groups. Most scholars attribute this behavior to motives rooted in cultural dynamics, such as working-class authoritarianism and assume that it contradicts their economic interests and motives. Although my findings corroborate the importance of working-class authoritarianism, I contend that a working-class vote for the right can also be explained by economic attitudes. Drawing on the theory of populism, I will examine the relationship between cultural attitudes (including authoritarianism and ethnocentrism) and rightist economic attitudes toward social policy and the welfare state. Economic populism is characterized by egalitarianism as well as anti-welfarism. By addressing economic populism, right-wing parties are able to reconcile their discourse with the economic attitudes of lower status groups. The empirical relevance of this hypothesis is tested on the case of Flanders (Belgium).
