Public Service Deprivation and Welfare Chauvinist Preferences: Experimental Evidence from Italy

How do perceptions of public service deprivation shape attitudes toward public spending and immigration? We address this question with a preregistered survey experiment fielded on a quota-representative sample of 2,500 adults in Italy. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a control group, a vignette highlighting local public service deprivation, or a vignette combining deprivation with a common claim that immigrants reduce natives’ access to public services. We measure support for increasing taxes to fund service provision, prioritization of different spending areas, and preferences over when immigrants should gain equal access to public services. Exposure to information about public service deprivation increases support for higher public spending. However, when deprivation is paired with the narrative that immigrants strain public services, the increase in support disappears, and respondents prioritize native-oriented service spending over integration policies and support restricting immigrants’ access to public services. These results show how scapegoating immigrants can redirect demand for state intervention toward welfare-chauvinist preferences.