Waarom hoger opgeleiden zich tegen het politieke systeem keren: Een onderzoek naar de motieven van hoger opgeleiden om te stemmen op populistisch radicaal rechtse partijen

The majority of the voting electorate of Populist Radical Right Parties (PRRPs)
generally consists of lower educated citizens. However, Forum for Demo-
cracy and JA21 have succeeded in attracting higher educated voters to their
electorate. Little scientific research has been performed on the motives of
higher educated citizens to vote for these parties, as traditional explanations
often focus on the lower educated. The focus of this inquiry will, therefore,
be on understanding the deliberations of higher educated citizens and how
these have incentivised them to vote for Populist Radical Right Parties. 12
semi-structured interviews were held with higher educated PRRP voters. The
results show that cultural factors and political distrust were most relevant
in higher educated citizens’ choice to vote for these parties. Especially po-
litical distrust seems important, which is shaped by the perceived political
knowledge and sophistication of the higher educated. This research shows
that the underlying motives of the higher educated to vote for these parties
may differ from existing explanations that focus on lower educated voters.