Immigrant Threat, Political Articulation by Extreme Right Parties and Support for Capital Punishment: A Multilevel Analysis of European Countries

This study examines connections between the political articulation of immigration by extreme right parties, perceived immigrant threat, and support for capital punishment across European countries. We merged data from the 2017 European Values Study with the Manifesto Project Dataset, a comparative dataset on statements by political parties. The results reveal positive effects of the perceived immigrant threat and positive effects of political articulation of immigration by extreme right parties on support for capital punishment. We also find that the political articulation of immigration by extreme right parties amplifies the effect of immigrant threat on support for capital punishment. The results of our analyses underscore the important role that political rhetoric can play in shaping a social context conducive to punitiveness.