External political efficacy and populist attitudes: Understanding the demand for populism in North Macedonia

This paper focuses on the underlying factors driving the demand for populism in North Macedonia. It presents an argument on populist attitudes, illustrating empirically that within this specific context, they are primarily driven by heightened dissatisfaction with state institutions. This dissatisfaction is manifested as perceived lack of external political efficacy, with state mechanisms failing to foster citizen inclusion in political processes. Additionally, this paper demonstrates that populism in this country of South East Europe is also significantly influenced by adherence to traditional values and beliefs in conspiracy theories. These findings are discussed in relation to the dominant theories on populist demand found in current literature. The objectives of this paper are twofold. Firstly, it seeks to examine the applicability of current theories to the case of North Macedonia. Secondly, it proposes a perspective on the factors stimulating populism within this context. To assess the effects of different factors on populist demand, we employ OLS regression modeling using survey data collected in June 2021. This study contributes to the existing literature on the demand side of populism, presenting findings from a region not frequently examined in this regard—Southeast Europe, specifically North Macedonia.