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När folket ropar på förändring - Hur socioekonomiska förhållanden kan förklara Michigans politiska skifte och Donald Trumps framgång

Holmén, Elsa LU and Stridh, Clara LU (2025) STVA23 20251
Department of Political Science
Abstract
As populism becomes increasingly prominent in global politics, the academic literature presents socioeconomic factors as an underlying reason. This paper aims to find whether such factors can explain the increase in Republican support in Michigan during the time period of 2012 to 2024, with particular recognition of the role of Donald Trump as a populist candidate. Michigan has experienced notable political shifts in the last four presidential elections. The research uses a case study approach that evaluates county-level socioeconomic data across Michigan. The central research question is: “How can socioeconomic conditions explain increased support for the Republican Party in Michigan with Donald Trump as the candidate?”. Research findings... (More)
As populism becomes increasingly prominent in global politics, the academic literature presents socioeconomic factors as an underlying reason. This paper aims to find whether such factors can explain the increase in Republican support in Michigan during the time period of 2012 to 2024, with particular recognition of the role of Donald Trump as a populist candidate. Michigan has experienced notable political shifts in the last four presidential elections. The research uses a case study approach that evaluates county-level socioeconomic data across Michigan. The central research question is: “How can socioeconomic conditions explain increased support for the Republican Party in Michigan with Donald Trump as the candidate?”. Research findings identify a correlation between socioeconomic factors and the support for the Republican party with Donald Trump as the candidate. The socioeconomic factors are used to explain the support for Donald Trump as a populist leader. The study concludes that populism is a contributing factor as to why Michigan has seen shifting behaviour in voters. (Less)
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author
Holmén, Elsa LU and Stridh, Clara LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVA23 20251
year
type
L2 - 2nd term paper (old degree order)
subject
keywords
populism, right-wing populism, socioeconomic factors, the Republicans, Donald Trump, Michigan, voting behaviour
language
Swedish
id
9190117
date added to LUP
2025-08-07 17:06:10
date last changed
2025-08-07 17:06:10
@misc{9190117,
  abstract     = {{As populism becomes increasingly prominent in global politics, the academic literature presents socioeconomic factors as an underlying reason. This paper aims to find whether such factors can explain the increase in Republican support in Michigan during the time period of 2012 to 2024, with particular recognition of the role of Donald Trump as a populist candidate. Michigan has experienced notable political shifts in the last four presidential elections. The research uses a case study approach that evaluates county-level socioeconomic data across Michigan. The central research question is: “How can socioeconomic conditions explain increased support for the Republican Party in Michigan with Donald Trump as the candidate?”. Research findings identify a correlation between socioeconomic factors and the support for the Republican party with Donald Trump as the candidate. The socioeconomic factors are used to explain the support for Donald Trump as a populist leader. The study concludes that populism is a contributing factor as to why Michigan has seen shifting behaviour in voters.}},
  author       = {{Holmén, Elsa and Stridh, Clara}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{När folket ropar på förändring - Hur socioekonomiska förhållanden kan förklara Michigans politiska skifte och Donald Trumps framgång}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}