Do Citizens Feel Discriminated Against for Partisan and Political Reasons? Survey Evidence from 11 Countries

Many citizens may feel that they are treated unfairly due to their political views or their partisanship. However, we know very little about how widespread such perceptions are and what kinds of citizens are more likely to feel treated unfairly. We implement new survey questions in 11 countries (Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Turkey, the United States, and the United Kingdom) to study how widespread perceptions of unfair treatment due to partisanship or political views are. We also examine which kinds of individuals are more likely to report such unfair treatment, focusing on predictors at the citizen and party level. We find that a substantial proportion of citizens report such unfair treatment, but that country variation is large. Citizens who are more politically interested and more extreme are more likely to report unfair treatment, as are those who are more socio-demographically similar to typical voters of their party. These findings imply that some citizens feel that political discrimination exists, and these patterns of perceptions match what we know about who is the most likely target of unfair treatment.