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My Research Gate Page

Research Projects:

Populism, Discontent and Emotions 

Book Website

The Age of Discontent: Populism, Extremism, and Conspiracy Theories in Contemporary Democracies Project with Matt Rhodes Purdy and Stephen Uytch has produced several research papers including the forthcoming text from Cambridge University Press.

Book Abstract: The years following the 2008 financial crisis produced a surge of democratic discontent, including populism, conspiracism, and the rise of the radical right. However, many of these movements coalesced around cultural issues like racial resentment, ethnocentrism, and nativism, rather than economic grievances. Research in political behavior has generally supported the argument that culture, rather than economics, is the primary driver of democratic discontent. Yet if so, then why did these movements and leaders emerge after an economic collapse, a pattern that repeats throughout the history of the democratic world? In this book, we argue that, while culture is the proximate cause of discontent, economics is the root cause. Emotions produced by economic crises inflame and intensify cultural conflicts. This is more likely where democratic quality is poor and citizen voice is limited. We test our theory with experimental and observational survey data, as well as a series of qualitative case comparisons analyzing the US, UK, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Chile, Brazil, and Uruguay. We conclude that democratic states must embrace their roles as providers of social insurance and as channels for citizen voice if they wish to deescalate cultural conflicts and turn back the tide of democratic discontent.

Data for this project include the Political Systems Attitudes Survey

  • Rhodes-Purdy, Matthew, Rachel Navarre, and Stephen M. Utych. Forthcoming, The Age of Discontent: Populism, Extremism, and Conspiracy Theories in Contemporary Democracies. Cambridge University Press.
  • Utych, Stephen M., Rachel Navarre, and Matthew Rhodes-Purdy. Forthcoming. “White Identity, Anti-Elitism, and Opposition to COVID-19 Restrictions in the United States.”  Representation.
  • Utych, Stephen M., Rachel Navarre, and Matthew Rhodes-Purdy. 2022. “Fear or Loathing: Affect, Political Economy, and Prejudice.” The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. Cambridge University Press, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344893.2022.2075030
  • Rhodes-Purdy, Matthew, Rachel Navarre, and Stephen M. Utych. 2021 “Populist psychology: economics, culture, and emotions.” The Journal of Politics 83:4, 1559-1572. (Replication Data)
  • Rhodes-Purdy, Matthew, Rachel Navarre, and Stephen M. Utych. 2021. “Measuring Simultaneous Emotions: Existing Problems and a New Way Forward.” Journal of Experimental Political Science 8(1): 1–14. doi: 10.1017/XPS.2019.35. (Replication Data)
  • Navarre, Rachel, Matthew Rhodes-Purdy, and Stephen M. Utych. “‘They are after you; I’m just in the way.’ Populist failure and conspiracy theories” (Working Paper)

Immigrant Political Behavior

McCann, James A., David L. Leal, Wayne Cornelius and Rachel Navarre. 2021. “Transnational Political Engagement and the Civic Incorporation of Mexican Immigrants in the United States.” Revista Latinoamericana de Opinión Pública10, no. 1: 129-164. https://doi.org/10.14201/rlop.25779

  •  My co-authors and I find that immigrants’ interest in the politics of their sending country does not hinder interest in the politics of their receiving country. While some have feared that political involvement in transnational contexts is zero sum, this work suggest that this is not the case.

McCann, James A., David L. Leal, Wayne Cornelius, Rachel Navarre, and Joanna Ibarra. “The Migration of Partisanship: How Home Country Party Attachments Shape the Partisan Incorporation of Mexican Immigrants in the US.” (Submitted for review)

 Other Published Works

  • Givens, Terri E., Rachel Navarre and Pete Mohanty. 2020. Immigration in the 21st Century, Routledge,  (Book Website, Supplemental Website)
  • Navarre, Rachel. 2020. “Immigration Policy under the Trump Administration.” in The Future of U.S. Empire in the Americas, ed Timothy M. Gill. New York: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429425073 (Website)

Works in Progress

  • Navarre, Rachel. “Constructing Immigrants on the Campaign Trail: Twitter, Immigration and the 2016 US Presidential Election”
  • Navarre, Rachel. “Immigration in a Time of Crisis: COVID-19, Elite Cues, and Immigration Bans”
  • Navarre, Rachel.  “New Media, New Parties: The Social Media Campaign in Spain”