hypothesis assumes that a strong public perception of corruption contributes to the electoral success of radical right parties. As mentioned earlier, because the problem of corruption is so endemic in CEECs that the electorate may take the problem for granted; in other words, they may view corruption as a problem impossible for politicians to solve. Yet, this may turn into aggression ‘acceptance’ during times of economic strife. Based on this, an alternative hypothesis was formulated. It assumes that a strong public perception of corruption contributes to the electoral success of radical right parties when it coincides with high levels of unemployment. The fact that neither the first nor the second path involves the condition of corruption (CORR) undermines both the first and the second hypotheses. This is a surprising finding, since it is quite common in the literature to argue that the problem of corruption is the main source of protest voting in CEECs, in which voters move to radical right parties for their anti-political establishment rhetoric (e.g. Bustikova, 2009, Cinpoes, 2010). Instead, the result appears to confirm the argument that voters who are dissatisfied with the established system do not go to the polls at all (Anderson 2005). In et al., addition, a poll conducted in early 2000 shows that the right-wing mainstream Law and Justice Party (PiS), not the League of Polish Families (LPR), which took advantage of public anger over the problem of corruption (Millard, 2003: 371; Szczerbiak, 2007: 212; Pankowski, 2010: 152). The argument that voters believe that political parties with a chance of winning elections (e.g. mainstream parties) can in fact solve problems and are therefore more inclined to vote for these parties during times of serious problems, can possibly explain why the problem of corruption benefited radical right parties (e.g. Knigge, 1998: 270; Vermeir et al., 2007: 144). Nevertheless, among the countries of interest, Romania, which is
hypothesis assumes that a strong public perception of corruption contributes to the electoral success of radical right parties. As mentioned earlier, because the problem of corruption is so endemic in CEECs that the electorate may take the problem for granted; in other words, they may view corruption as a problem impossible for politicians to solve. Yet, this ‘acceptance’ may turn into aggression during times of economic strife. Based on this, an alternative hypothesis was formulated. It assumes that a strong public perception of corruption contributes to the electoral success of radical right parties when it coincides with high levels of unemployment. The fact that neither the first nor the second path involves the condition of corruption (CORR) undermines both the first and the second hypotheses. This is a surprising finding, since it is quite common in the literature to argue that the problem of corruption is the main source of protest voting in CEECs, in which voters move to radical right parties for their anti-political establishment rhetoric (e.g. Bustikova, 2009, Cinpoes, 2010). Instead, the result appears to confirm the argument that voters who are dissatisfied with the established system do not go to the polls at all (Anderson et al., 2005). In addition, a poll conducted in early 2000 shows that the right-wing mainstream Law and Justice Party (PiS), not the League of Polish Families (LPR), which took advantage of public anger over the problem of corruption (Millard, 2003: 371; Szczerbiak, 2007: 212; Pankowski, 2010: 152). The argument that voters believe that political parties with a chance of winning elections (e.g. mainstream parties) can in fact solve problems and are therefore more inclined to vote for these parties during times of serious problems, can possibly explain why the problem of corruption benefited radical right parties (e.g. Knigge, 1998: 270; Vermeir et al., 2007: 144). Nevertheless, among the countries of interest, Romania, which is
Mustafa%20Cagatay%20Aslan_Dissertation.docx