Economic Anxiety, Visible Minorities and Populism: Public Support for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford

Abstract

Recent election results such as the UK ‘Brexit’ referendum on the European Union, Donald Trump’s ascendency to the presidency, the growth of the Alternative for Germany party in Germany have rattled scholars and citizens’ confidence in the viability of liberal democratic institutions. One dominant theoretical explanation for why voters turn to populist and authoritarian candidates is that people are experiencing economic anxieties amidst increasing inequality and polarizing labour markets. A second emphasizes working class xenophobia and racism. Current analyses of the UK referendum and the US presidential election seem to favor the latter over the former. However, before Brexit, and before Trump, there was Toronto mayor Rob Ford. Known equally for bizarre personal antics, outsider status, and populist conservative economic views, Ford is a classic case of the right-wing, authoritarian politician. In this paper, we present survey data from 2014 that compares the impact of perceived economic stress with social conservatism and other control variables on approval ratings for Ford. Our data shows the importance of perceived economic stress, independent of income, on support for Mayor Ford. Our data also show that visible minorities were more likely than non-visible minorities to support Ford. Our data suggests that appeals to economic anxiety are powerful and can generate wide support for populist candidates, even amongst visible minorities.