Book Project:
What explains variation in electoral support for populist radical right-wing parties within Western democracies? More specifically, why do these parties fare increasingly well in areas relatively untouched by their electorates’ key concerns, such as immigration, transnationalism or post-industrial economic decline? Conversely, why do they fail to attract voters in localities where these grievances are highly salient? My book project sheds light on this puzzle by investigating the conditions under which populist radical right-wing parties perform well in some local settings but not in others.
I argue that residential constraints underlie and help explain these spatial patterns. I show that PRR parties are particularly successful in areas where access to economic opportunities and services are restricted and among residents who have limited means of “voting with their feet” and reacting to the pressures and demands created by growing international economic and political integration in other ways. I develop and test this theory by drawing on quantitative analyses or subnational and longitudinal administrative data and more than 18 months of in-depth qualitative fieldwork, interviews and observation in two Western European countries: France and Finland.
Journal Articles:
2018. “Changes in Local Context and Support for the Populist Radical Right: Evidence from Finland" Party Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068818810283
Link Appendix Replication Materials
Work In Progress
"Residential Constraints and the Political Geography of the Populist Radical Right: Evidence from France."
"Immigrants in Politics: The Symbolic Effects of Ethnic Minority Representation." (with J. Lagodny)
"Voting for Babies: Comparative Family Policies and the Demographic Crisis." (with C. Way)
"Tackling Bubbles and Biases in Participation." Part of a multi-year interdisciplinary research project that examines the political effects of globalization and structural changes in Western democracies, funded by the Strategic Research Council of the Academy of Finland, 2019-2021
Policy Publications:
2020. "Inclusive Education and Cross-Sectoral Collaboration between Education and Other Sectors." Research Report commissioned for the Global Education Monitoring Report 2020, UNESCO 2019
2019. Investing in Youth: Finland. OECD Publishing, April 2019. (with Miranda, V. and Valfort, A-M.)
2015. Integrating Social Services for Vulnerable Groups: Bridging Sectors for Better Service Delivery. OECD Publishing, July 2015. (with Richardson, D.)
2015. "Mental Health Analysis Profiles: Sweden." OECD Health Working papers, July 2015.
2014. "Mental Health Analysis Profiles: Finland." OECD Health Working papers, July 2014.