My PhD thesis focuses on two separate topics: (1) Issue salience and (ii) Political inequality. For each topic, I present one theoretical and one empirical analysis. Perhaps unsurprizingly, this sums up to 4 chapters.Chapter 1 (Political inequality, theoretical): "Immigration, Political Participation and Redistribution". Input: In this work in progress paper, I assess the effect of immigration on the political behavior of natives. Output: Plutocratic collective choice mechanisms rather than the law of supply and demand are responsible for the immigration worries of native unskilled workers.Chapter 2 (Issue salience, theoretical): "Electoral Competition through Issue Selection". Input: In this published paper, we assess the effect of priming on the intensity of electoral competition.Output: Policy innovation is more likely when the ability of parties to divert the attention of voters towards their "owned issues" is stronger.Chapter 3 (Issue salience, empirical): "The Leader and the ublic Under the Terror Threat".Input: In this work in progress paper, I assess the effect of a shock to the salience of an issue (terrorism) in the political preferences of agents.Output: Populist leaders' strategy to divide the public on key issues is less effective when a real threat actually arises.Chapter 4 (Political inequality, empirical): "The Depoliticized Participant".Input: In this preliminary essay, I assess the participation behavior of depoliticized individuals (ideological centrist or "don't knows"), typically neglected in the field.Output: Depoliticized individuals are alienated from politics rather than hostile to the democratic order. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished