Public Service Deprivation and the Rise of Populism in Europe
ACES opening academic year lecture with Prof. Catherine E. De Vries
- Date
- 15 September 2025
- Time
- 16:00 -18:00
- Location
- Bushuis/Oost-Indisch Huis
- Room
- F0.01
This year, we are honored to welcome Professor Catherine E. De Vries for a timely and thought-provoking lecture on the link between public service deprivation and the rise of populism across Europe. The event reflects ACES’s ongoing commitment to fostering interdisciplinary dialogue around the most pressing challenges facing the European Union and its member states.
About the lecture
This lecture examines how public service deprivation fuels the rise of far-right parties in contemporary Europe. The thesis of the talk is that reduced access to essential public services, coined public service deprivation, helps explain why certain regions become strongholds of far-right and populist support. Drawing on evidence from multiple European countries, I show that areas affected by long-term disinvestment in public services and infrastructure are more prone to political discontent and radical voting behavior. This pattern is driven by the interplay of demand- and supply-side dynamics: citizens adopt zero-sum perceptions of resource competition, while far-right parties strategically frame service decline as the result of immigration and elite neglect. This lecture offers fresh insights into how spatial inequality and state retreat shape the electoral geography of the far right in Europe today.
About the speaker
Catherine E. De Vries is a leading voice in the field of European politics. As the Generali Endowed Chair in European Policies and Professor of Political Science at Bocconi University, she brings deep insight and academic rigor to the study of governance and institutional change. In her capacity as President of the Institute for European Policy Making at Bocconi, she drives forward an ambitious research agenda focused on the European Union’s future and role in the world. Her contributions have been honored internationally, reflecting her role at the intersection of scholarship, policy, and societal impact, including an Honorary Professorship at Queen’s University Belfast, and in 2013, she was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
