„It’s xenophobia, stupid!“ Soziodemografische Merkmale und Einstellungen der FPÖ-Wähler*innen

This contribution examines on the basis of microdata from the European Social Survey the main determinants of voting for the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ). Three theoretical approaches are discussed which emerge from the literature: the ‘modernization loser’ thesis, the cultural backlash thesis and the post-democracy thesis. The results suggest that the backlash thesis can best explain why people vote for the FPÖ. It needs to be qualified insofar as a vote for the party is less of an expression of a general cultural backlash, but more specifically an expression of anti-immigration attitudes. Further, the cultural dimension cannot be considered independently of political and economic factors. Especially the negative attitudes of FPÖ voters towards European integration suggest an overlap of cultural, political and economic motives, which finds expression in a rejection of immigration and the multicultural society.