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Do nationalist parties shape or follow sub‐national identities? A panel analysis on the rise of the nationalist party in the F lemish R egion of B elgium, 2006–11
Author(s) -
Boonen Joris,
Hooghe Marc
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
nations and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1469-8129
pISSN - 1354-5078
DOI - 10.1111/nana.12044
Subject(s) - nationalism , ideology , alliance , politics , identity (music) , political science , political economy , sociology , law , physics , acoustics
In this article, we examine the steep and unprecedented rise of the New F lemish Alliance ( N ‐ VA ), a F lemish nationalist party in B elgium that succeeded in gaining almost thirty per cent of the vote in a couple of years. During this period, a panel survey among 3,025 late adolescents and young adults was conducted. Our analyses suggest that support for a sub‐nationalist ideology is far more successful in explaining a subsequent vote for the nationalist party than vice versa. In terms of supply and demand mechanisms, we find that N ‐ VA has managed to address a preexisting reservoir of F lemish nationalist voters (demand), rather than attributing to a development of a stronger F lemish identity among its followers (supply). We should therefore not overestimate the constructionist power of (sub‐)nationalist political elites for the development of (sub‐)nationalist identities.