Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/325700 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Citation: 
[Journal:] British Journal of Political Science [ISSN:] 1469-2112 [Volume:] 55 [Article No.:] e105 [Publisher:] Cambridge University Press (CUP) [Place:] Cambridge [Year:] 2025 [Pages:] 1-10
Publisher: 
Cambridge University Press (CUP), Cambridge
Abstract: 
How does anti-immigrant rhetoric by mainstream politicians affect norms of tolerance? How does this compare to similar statements made by radical-right politicians? Drawing on experimental evidence, we find that statements by mainstream politicians lead to more norm erosion than similar statements by radical-right politicians. Subsample analyses suggest that this is because statements by mainstream-right politicians erode norm perceptions of right-wing individuals, while those by radical-right politicians induce backlash among left-wing individuals, who hold closer to the norm in place. The latter effect (backlash by the left) disappears when similar statements are made by mainstream right politicians. We argue that this difference occurs because mainstream politicians represent the views of a larger part of the population or have a higher status. Our results highlight the pivotal role of mainstream politicians in enforcing or eroding democratic norms, and that similar political statements can have different effects depending on their sender.
Subjects: 
social norms
xenophobia
mainstream parties
accommodation
Germany
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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