Failure to launch? The lack of populist attitudinal activation in the 2019 South African elections
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Published:2023-06
Issue:2
Volume:61
Page:257-279
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ISSN:0022-278X
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Container-title:The Journal of Modern African Studies
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language:en
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Short-container-title:J. Mod. Afr. Stud.
Author:
Nyenhuis RobertORCID,
Schulz-Herzenberg ColletteORCID
Abstract
ABSTRACTDo South Africans hold strong populist attitudes? If so, who is the ‘populist citizen’ and have these attitudes been activated in the electoral arena? In this article, we make use of 2019 Comparative National Elections Project (CNEP) data to answer these questions. We find that populist attitudes tend to vary across levels of education, geographic location and racial groups. Given the constant supply of populist rhetoric from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), we expected this party to marshal electoral support from citizens holding the strongest populist attitudes. However, we contend that the party's racialised populism and radicalism ultimately handicapped it at the ballot box. The EFF ultimately suffered from citizens’ mistrust, its lack of credibility and savvy political moves by the ANC ahead of the election.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Sociology and Political Science,Geography, Planning and Development