Populism, Affective Polarization and Sovereignism in Italy During 2024 EP Elections

Although conceptually and empirically separate, populism, affective polarization (AP) and sovereignism are key explanatory factors of today's politics and voting behavior. Italy emerges then as a crucial case as these elements are strongly present both at party and general public levels. Despite research dedicated lot of attentions on populism and, to a lesser extent to AP and sovereignism in Europe, few studies observe the links among these phenomena. Do sovereignist sentiments overlap with populist views? Are they linked to Affective polarization in European elections? How do they interact in voting participation? Our study addresses these questions by looking at the Italian public during 2024 EP elections. Within this context, the turnout level has confirmed the scarce participation of national elections in 2022, descending below the 50%. Very little is known, however, about how the different forms of sovereignism and their interactions with AP and populism, which increasingly tend to characterize the European political process, are associated with voting. To fill this gap in the literature, we use an original survey on Italian public opinion conducted during 2024 European elections. The main findings broaden our understanding of the determinants of voter turnout and the health of democracy.