Voting for the extreme right: an analysis of Platform for Catalonia's voters

Abstract

The anti-immigration party Platform for Catalonia has experienced a relevant electoral growth over the past few years. Through a series of interviews with party voters, the text tries to understand the reasons why voters that did not have any relation with the traditional extreme right have come to vote for a party that is socially labeled as such. Three main explanatory factors are developed throughout the text. First, different elements of the electoral path and ideological values of its voters show that the party is benefiting directly from processes such as electoral misalignment and political disaffection and has been able to position itself as a legitimate instrument to canalize part of the protest vote against traditional political parties. Second, the party is developing a stance regarding the "national axis" (Catalonia-Spain) that may be a key feature in its goal of distinguishing itself from the stigmatized ultra-nationalist extreme right. Finally, the party offers an "authoritarian” answer to an electorate that believes that, due to "massive" immigration, society has slipped into a negative path that threatens their personal well-being.