MW Lecture with Professor Catherine De Vries, December 2022

“Public Service Deprivation and Far-Right Support”
Far-right parties and candidates have gained significant vote shares and representation in many countries in recent years. The literature explaining far-right support centers on two sets of factors: (1) material concerns stemming from exposure to globalization, trade shocks or changing labor markets, and (2) cultural concerns relating to migration shocks or demographic patterns - or the interaction between the two. Much less attention has been paid to people’s experiences with the state. In this talk, I will revisit the debate about the origins of far right support through the prism of people's experiences with the state by exploiting the political consequences of a reform of public service provision in Italy and the response to olive grove destruction due to Xylella fastidiosa bacterium in the Italian region, Puglia.