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Can Grassroots Organizations Reduce Support for Right-Wing Populism via Social Media?

Author

Listed:
  • Johannes Wimmer

    (LMU Munich)

  • Leonhard Vollmer

    (LMU Munich)

Abstract

The rise of right-wing populism throughout Western democracies coincided with an increasing adoption of social media – both among supporters and opponents of right-wing populism alike. In light of these trends, we assess whether grassroots organizations are effective in combating right-wing populism via social media. We study this question using a tightly controlled online field experiment embedded in the Facebook campaign of a German grassroots organization. Leveraging geo-spatial variation in where the organization disseminated its Facebook ads targeting Germany’s leading right-wing populist party (AfD), we find that the campaign did not significantly affect the AfD’s vote share and turnout. Drawing on data from a complementary online experiment, we show that insufficient outreach on Facebook together with the absence of individual-level responses of attitudes and behavior explains why the campaign did not meaningfully shape aggregate election outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Johannes Wimmer & Leonhard Vollmer, 2023. "Can Grassroots Organizations Reduce Support for Right-Wing Populism via Social Media?," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 390, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    • Handle: RePEc:rco:dpaper:390
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