Tech Waves and Political Tides: A Comprehensive Analysis of Robotization, ICT, and AI Influence on Radical Right Voting

Autor principal:
Erick Stivens Padilla Galviz (Universidad de Barcelona)
Programa:
Sesión 2, Sesión 2
Día: lunes, 22 de julio de 2024
Hora: 12:30 a 14:15
Lugar: JUECES DE CASTILLA (76)

There is mounting evidence that routine biased technological change and robotization are structural economic causes of radical right parties’ ascent. However, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of how different forms of technological disruption influence support for the radical right and there is a notable void in understanding the effects of Artificial Intelligence. This paper aims to bridge this gap by providing an in-depth examination of the repercussions of technological disruptions, particularly focusing on robotization, Information and Communication Technology and AI, and their impacts on voting behaviour. We hypothesize that the advancements in these three technological domains have significantly contributed to the support for radical right parties, observable at both individual and regional scales. Our methodology employs a dual approach: quantitatively measuring exposure to robotization, ICT, and AI at individual and regional levels. At the individual level, we analyse data from ten waves of the European Social Survey (ESS), encompassing responses from 26 European countries. At the regional level, we examine voting patterns within the NUTS 2 regions in France and Poland from 2002 to 2022. These countries are strategically selected as representative democracies of Western and post-communist Europe with high technological investment. Preliminary findings yield robust evidence suggesting that robotization, ICT, and AI disruptions have played pivotal roles in driving the growth of the radical right. Our results carry significant implications, suggesting that as ICT and AI implementation increases in the economy, radical right platforms may expand their electoral base beyond the middle-skilled blue collars to highly skilled professionals.

Palabras clave: Automation, radical right, AI, technological exposure