Anger, Party Identity and the Populist Activation of the Electorate in Mexico

This article studies the populist activation of the electorate in the 2018 presidential election in Mexico, which requires a series of conditions. On the one hand, voters must feel a grievance about the political, economic or social situation in the country. In addition, the capacity of ambitious politicians is necessary to make these grievances relevant among the electorate so that voters respond to populist rhetoric to translate their anger into electoral mobilization. However, unlike other studies, we argue that not all voters are mobilized equally in response to populist rhetoric, even if they register a similar level of populist attitudes. Based on the literature on political behavior, we argue that voters' partisan identity constitutes a filter of information that makes voters more likely to accept populist rhetoric if it is consistent with their political predispositions. On the contrary, if the populist rhetoric contradicts their partisan identity, voters will reject the rhetoric of the populist candidate even though those voters register a high level of populist attitudes.