Can the rise of populism be explained by the growing chasm between rich and poor? With regard to Germany, such a causal relationship must be rejected.
External Publication
Economic Inequality as a Driver of Populism?
Perception and Reality: Economic Inequality as a Driver of Populism?
German Economic Institute (IW)
Can the rise of populism be explained by the growing chasm between rich and poor? With regard to Germany, such a causal relationship must be rejected.
Income distribution in Germany has been very stable since 2005, and people’s knowledge on actual inequality and economic development is limited: inequality and unemployment are massively overestimated. At the same time, a persistently isolationist and xenophobic group with diverse concerns and preferences has emerged within the middle classes of society that riggers support for populist parties.This mood is based on welfare chauvinism against immigration rather than on a general criticism of distribution. Since the immigration of recent years will inevitably affect the relevant indicators concerning distribution, an open, cautious but less heated approach is needed in the debate on the future of the welfare state. In order to address and take the local concerns of citizens seriously, an increased exchange with public officials on the ground is needed.
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Punching up or Punching down?: How Stereotyping the Rich and the Poor Impacts Redistributive Preferences in Germany
Redistribution and the welfare state have been linked by academic discourse to narratives that portray specific societal groups as ‘deserving’ or ‘undeserving’. The present analysis contributes to this scholarship in a twofold manner.
IW
Read the article IW-Report No. 63 26. November 2022
IW Distribution Report 2022: Influence of structural changes on income distribution
Academization, immigration and demographic change are defining issues of our time and influence the distribution of income. This year's report therefore focuses on the question of which long-term structural changes in the net income distribution are associated ...
IW