Thriving on terror - The indirect influences of terrorism on voting behaviour

The terrorist attack in Paris in 2015 severely affected the Western world. Thus far, research has mainly focused on the consequences of this attack on voting behaviour in France, which was directly affected by the terrorist attack. This thesis tries to expand the knowledge of the consequences of a terrorist attack by focusing on possible indirect influences of the Paris terrorist attack on voting for populist right-wing parties in a country indirectly affected: The Netherlands. This thesis argues that the occurrence of a terrorist attack would increase voting for populist right-wing parties and would strengthen anti-immigrant attitudes. Furthermore, it would strengthen the relationship between the educational level and anti-immigrant attitudes, as well as the relationship between anti-immigrant attitudes and voting for populist right-wing parties. Using the European Social Survey waves from 2010 to 2018, these expectations were tested using regression analyses. This thesis found a period effect, which could indicate the threat of terrorism affects voting for populist right-wing parties. It also has strengthened the relationship between anti-immigrant attitude and voting for populist right-wing parties. Yet, no evidence is found for the terrorist attack affecting the relationship between the educational level and anti-immigrant attitudes. Also, no evidence is found that the Paris terrorist attack influenced anti-immigrant attitudes directly. Future research could focus on the improvement of the measurement of the threat of terrorism, as well as examining the length of the effects that terrorist attacks have on voting behaviour.