Support for left-wing parties in Western Europe continues to shrink. The most recent example was the Italian general election which saw the Partito Democratico, an ex-communist party, drop from 41% in the 2014 European parliamentary election, to 19%: the lowest representation the party has ever seen. Half of the PD’s electorate either did not vote in the recent election or voted for a different party. Half of those who did vote for a different party decided to bestow their trust upon the Five Star Movement (M5s), a party defined as “populist, anti-establishment and eurosceptic.” Popular M5s rhetoric includes propositions of a universal basic income and the expulsion of illegal migrants. Subsequently we find ourselves asking: why would a left-wing voter ever vote for a populist party?

In order to address this odd question, we must observe the evolution of left-wing parties throughout the past decade. Traditionally, left-wing parties have been representative of the lower classes in society: factory workers, farmers and artisans. They strengthened the bond with these groups through labor unions, which serve as a two-way platform for workers to communicate their concerns to the party and for the party to share its ideologies with the workers. However, after the 2007-2008 financial crisis, this relationship began to break down; labour unions were no longer able to protect workers’ rights due to the high-scale layoffs that took place across industries. Consequently, there was no longer a direct connection between left-wing parties and the workers.

Instead of trying to find new ways to connect with this section of the population, left-wing parties chose to begin representing capital, thereby becoming advocates for free trade unions, like the European Union.

Abandoned by left-wing parties, the lower classes of society called out for someone to represent them, giving birth to populist parties such as the M5s. A study carried out on the Italian general election shows that 37% of factory workers voted for M5s, compared to only 11% for the PD.
The PD obtained most of its votes from retirees and upper class citizens, demonstrating that the left wing became an “elite” party, while populism has filled the void left by left-wing parties.

It is possible to find similarities between this phenomenon in Italy and the case of the United States 2016 Presidential election. The needs of low-income and working class voters were satisfied by Trump’s political ascent, giving him an unexpected win over the Democratic party. Trump’s populist agenda was able to win in poorer states while the Democratic party won in urban centers with large populations such as New York City. Like with M5s campaign rhetoric, Trump’s most attractive messages concerned radical measures to expel illegal migrants from the US and reforms intended to benefit working class citizens. The general trends in the US and Italy both demonstrate that populism has begun to substitute for left-wing parties in representing low-income and working class citizens, meanwhile the left-wing has evolved into a party of the elite that focuses more on capital gain than workers’ rights.

Therefore, the fundamental shift in left-wing parties’ priorities and agendas have lead to a radical change in voters’ preferences across democratic societies.