Europe-wide political divide emerging between cities and countryside - study

The back streets of Montpellier, France Credit: Miguel Alcântara "Geography of disillusion" poses a major challenge for democratic countries across the continent, according to researchers. As disenchantment rises in European hinterlands, democratic politics risks being eroded from within Davide Luca A new study reveals the extent of the political divide opening up between city and countryside right across Europe, with research suggesting that political polarisation in the 21st century may have a lot to do with place and location. University of Cambridge researchers analysed survey data collected between 2002 and 2018 to gauge the social and civic attitudes of people across the cities, towns and rural areas of thirty European countries. The findings show that political division throughout the continent runs on a "gradient" of disenchantment and distrust in democracy that increases as it moves from urban centres through suburbs, towns, villages and out into open country. People in the more rural parts of Europe have the lowest levels of trust in their nation's current political system - and yet are significantly more likely than their urban counterparts to actually vote in elections. Those in suburbs, followed by towns and then the countryside, are increasingly more likely to see themselves as politically conservative, and hold anti-immigration and anti-EU views, while city dwellers lean towards the left. However, it's not the poorest rural areas where disillusion is strongest, and small town and countryside dwellers report much higher levels of life satisfaction while voicing dissatisfaction with democratic institutions.