Where You Live and How You Feel: The Reinforcing Impact of Place and Perception on Radical-Right Preferences

The study of left-behind places has recently attracted considerable attention, highlighting the role of spatial inequalities in shaping political attitudes in Western democracies. Nevertheless, previous research has concentrated on either the attitudinal level or on place-based effects and resentments, leaving a gap in understanding how individuals who feel left behind perceive and interact with their living environment. This study aims to address two key research questions: first, whether place-based factors and/or feelings of being left behind are associated with preferences for radical right parties (RRPs), and secondly, whether the two factors reinforce each other. To answer these questions, I use a unique data set comprising geo-coded survey data from the 2021 German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES) linked with grid-level information. The results indicate that living in a left-behind place and feeling left behind are positively associated with RRP support. The findings confirm the reinforcing relationship between left-behind places and feeling left behind for the rural–urban divide: residents who feel left behind rate RRPs more positively in places with lower population density than in places with higher population density. However, for citizens who feel respected and recognized, population density makes no difference to whether they support an RRP or not.