European Journal of Political Research· 2026Q1
Pocketbook politics and climate action: How economic strain reduces support for green parties
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- 2026year
Short summary
Personal economic strain decreases voter support for green parties and shifts their political priorities away from climate action towards economic concerns, according to panel data from Germany (2016–2024).
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Key points
- Personal economic strain leads voters to view green parties more negatively.
- Financially strained voters deprioritize climate protection, focusing instead on inflation and economic growth.
- A difference-in-differences design using German panel data (2016–2024) supports these findings, particularly around the 2022 price surge.
- The impact of economic strain on actual vote intentions for green parties is mixed.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract Why do green parties struggle electorally despite overwhelming public support for climate action? While macro-level studies suggest that green party performance is shaped by economic conditions, the micro-level mechanisms driving this relationship remain unclear. This paper investigates whether personal economic strain reduces support for green parties and reshapes climate-related political attitudes. Leveraging rich panel data from Germany (2016–2024), I combine long-term correlational analysis with a difference-in-differences design exploiting the war-related 2022 surge in consumer prices. Voters facing financial hardship consistently evaluate the Greens more negatively and shift their political attention toward inflation and economic growth, while deprioritizing climate protection. However, evidence on vote intentions is mixed. These findings contribute to debates on green party support and the distributive politics of climate action, highlighting the relevance of voters’ pocketbooks and the need for green parties to convincingly address material concerns to ensure electoral success.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. European Journal of Political Research, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Political Science and International Relations
Political Science and International RelationsSocial Sciences