Populism from Below: Socio-economic and Ideological Correlates of Mass Attitudes in Greece

The paper offers a first-time investigation of populism at the mass level in Greece. Its objectives are to examine the socio-economic factors which facilitate the adoption of populist world views and to identify the ideological correlates of populism. Findings reveal that the strongest socio-economic predictors are (low levels of) household income and education. Populist attitudes are more pronounced among left-wing citizens and strongly associated with euroscepticism and opposition to economic liberalism. However, the relationship of populism with anti-immigrant and anti-democratic attitudes appears to be mediated by left–right ideology, thus providing evidence that mass-level populism in Greece comes in both left-inclusionary and right-exclusionary varieties.