Economic crisis and the perceptions about the ideology of political parties in Portugal (2008-2012)

Abstract

How are political parties ideologically perceived in Portugal? This research analyzes the perceptions of the Portuguese on parties’ left-right positions aiming in particular to assess the validity of the displacement theory in perceptions’ bias and the importance that the emergence of the economic crisis in 2010 had in that bias. The results reveal a deepening polarization of perceptions after the emergence of the crisis and that the effects of the displacement theory tend to explain these perceptions. Contrast effects have intensified with the economic crisis, particularly on the right, mediated by ideological and partisan affinities, validating the displacement theory.