This policy report investigates the relationship between economic inequality and the levels of political support and participation in European democracies. The main question is how variations in economic inequality, both between countries and over time within countries, shape citizens’ support for traditional political institutions and their engagement in political activities. Specifically, it investigates whether higher levels of inequality lead to diminished political support and participation. The report further asks if these effects differ for citizens with different socio-economic positions. In other words, do levels of political support and participation vary more between different socio-economic groups in countries with high or low economic inequality?
To answer these questions, quantitative analyses were conducted utilising data from the World Inequality Dataset, World Governance Indicators, World Bank, OECD, and the European Social Survey. The study includes 27 European countries over the period 2002 to 2022.
The findings from the first part of the analyses reveal that rising inequality erodes citizens’ political support for democratic institutions. Moreover, as inequality grows, citizens disengage from using institutional forms of participation, shifting toward non-institutional and civic participation, and even protest voting. Additionally, it is particularly citizens in worse-off socio-economic standings – in terms of income, education, and occupation – that exhibit lower levels of political support and participation, while mainly expressing dissatisfaction via protest voting.
The second part of the analyses focuses on disparities in political support and participation across socio-economic groups in countries with respectively enduringly low and high economic inequality. The results indicate that, in countries marked by high economic inequality, disparities in political support and participation associated with income and occupational differences are larger than in economically more equal countries. Yet, disparities linked to educational differences are larger in economically more equal countries.
The findings of this report highlight the importance of economic equality in shaping equitable political support and encouraging political participation. Economic inequality fosters greater dissatisfaction with democratic political institutions amongst all citizens and widens the political gap between well- and worse-off citizens.
