The (Unintended) Consequences of Ineffective Corruption Control on Populism in Europe

The literature on populism in European politics contends that the inability of mainstream parties
to effectively address economic challenges and immigration issues fosters protest voting for anti-
establishment figures. This paper proposes an alternative perspective centred on corruption control
and delineates two pathways through which corruption influences support for populist parties in
Europe. First, populists exploit growing public discontent with mainstream policymakers’
incapacity to advance sustainable corruption mitigation measures. They espouse an anti-corruption
stance and pledge to rectify what ‘the establishment’ fails to address. The second connection arises
from the European Union’s (EU) approach to combating corruption. The EU employs an
ineffective anti-corruption strategy and attributes unfavourable outcomes to member states and
their citizens. This flawed approach contributes to nationalist sentiments across Europe, which
populist politicians leverage by adopting an anti-EU rhetoric. Drawing from an original dataset
encompassing every national election across 28 European nations from 1990 to 2020, this study
probes the circumstances under which populist parties expand their electoral support. Various
statistical analyses reveal that the rise in corruption is a fundamental factor driving support for
populism. Not only does the EU fail to assist in tackling national corruption, but its anti-corruption
strategy inadvertently bolsters public approval of populist politicians. This effect is accentuated in
member states where corruption becomes more pronounced post-EU accession.