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Research papers on Political polarization

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  1. Affective Polarization in Multiparty Systems? Comparing Affective Polarization Towards Voters and Parties in Norway and the United States

    Erik Knudsen · 2021 · Scandinavian Political Studies · 73 citations

    A growing body of comparative studies on partisan hostility – a phenomenon known as affective polarization – is providing evidence that partisan affective polarization is generally no greater in the United States than it is in many European multiparty systems. This article takes the comparative literature on affective polarization one step further by presenting the first comparative study on affective polarization that simultaneously uses, compares and combines a direct measure of affective polarization towards voters (using the inter‐party marriage measure) and an indirect measure of affective polarization towards parties (using the like/dislike of party measure) while accounting for the fa

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  2. A new regime divide? Democratic backsliding, attitudes towards democracy and affective polarization

    Theresa Gessler, Natasha Wunsch · 2025 · European Journal of Political Research · 34 citations

    Abstract Partisan‐based affective polarization has been posited as a key explanation for citizens' tolerance towards democratic backsliding, with voters more likely to overlook democratic violations conducted by in‐party candidates. Our study theorizes and empirically explores the reverse perspective on this relationship: focusing on the role of the opposition, we submit that backsliding may crystallize an affective dislike among opposition supporters towards the governing party and its supporters that stems from a regime divide over democracy itself. To probe the plausibility of this argument, we leverage original survey data collected in Hungary, where democratic backslid

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  3. Authoritarianism, Affective Polarization, and Economic Ideology

    Christopher D. Johnston · 2018 · Political Psychology · 26 citations

    I consider two theories of affective polarization between Democrats and Republicans in the United States: (1) ideological divergence on size‐of‐government issues (Webster & Abramowitz, ) and (2) authoritarianism‐based partisan sorting (Hetherington & Weiler, ). I argue that these alternatives cannot be easily disentangled, because politically engaged citizens seek out and assimilate information about economic policy from elites who are perceived to share their core traits and cultural values. In this way, the economic preferences emphasized by the first view are partly endogenous to the worldview divide emphasized by the second. Elite position taking on economic issues may elicit str

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  4. Fostering Open-Minded Political Engagement through Online Interscholastic Discussions: Toward Reducing Affective Political Polarization

    Brett L. M. Levy, Alina Lewis · 2025 · Democracy & Education · 1 citations

    This study explores how political discussions among diverse youth can support students’ open-minded political engagement. For this study, we collaborated with two teachers to adapt and enact instruction aimed at supporting students’ discussion of controversial issues across political, geographic, and cultural boundaries. During an instructional unit exploring various ways to strengthen our election system, students engaged in discussions with their classmates and with peers from another school via an online video discussion board. We collected data through observations and interviews. Our findings indicate that the instruction enhanced students’ understanding of their political bubbles and t

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  5. Affective partisan polarization, citizens’ attitudes, and political behavior in Swiss democracy

    Benjamin Jansen, Alois Stutzer · 2026 · Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics · 1 citations

    Abstract There is a concern that citizens with different political positions and party affiliations increasingly dislike each other. We examine this affective polarization, which is often associated with a weakening of democracy, in the context of Switzerland’s multiparty landscape with proportional governmental representation. Evaluating the long-term development of affective polarization in Switzerland with both historical and newly gathered data for 2023, we find an increase between 1999 and 2003 but hardly any change over the last two decades. In a complementary perspective based on voters’ revealed preferences, our analysis of straight- vs. split-ticket voting behavior

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  6. UNITED STATES, BRAZIL, POLITICAL POLARIZATION AND DEMOCRATIC PUSHBACK. ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY?

    Nicolò Ferraris · 2023 · Il Politico · 1 citations

    This article, starting with the attacks on U.S. and Brazilian democratic institutions in January 2021 and 2023, aims to understand whether and how the phenomenon of political polarization may be related to an increase in political violence in democracies and a possible democratic retreat. Likewise, the concept of democratic resilience and how democracies can resist the dangers of political polarization will be investigated. The phenomenon of political polarization can be detrimental to democracies in that, if extreme, it can bring politics to the essential categories of "friend and foe," the politics of "us versus them," which can result in the acceptance of undemocratic actions such as the

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  7. Unaffected polarization? Populism and affective polarization in comparative perspective

    Alberto Stefanelli, Bruno Castanho Silva · 2026 · Political Psychology · 1 citations

    Abstract With both affective polarization and populism on the rise in several countries, many have proposed a link between the two phenomena. Yet, research offers little direct evidence on whether populist individuals are more polarized than their mainstream conunterparts. This paper aims to fill this gap by using data from 37 elections in 31 countries to provide a comparative account of the relationship between populism and affective polarization at the individual level. Contrary to common assumptions, resuts show no significant difference in affective polarization between more and less populist individuals. Instead, we identify a curvilinear relationship wherein both indi

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  8. Polarization and Political Violence: When Polarization Turns Violent

    Jeffrey S. Kopstein · 2026 · Journal of Democracy

    Abstract: This essay challenges the assumption that political polarization leads naturally to political violence. Surveying cases from ancient Alexandria and the Russian pogroms to lynching in the American South, Hindu-Muslim riots in India, and the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, the essay argues that polarization turns deadly only when several forces converge: when affective hostility fuses with fears of demographic change and political displacement, when groups come to see control of the polity as a matter of collective survival, and when the state retreats from enforcing equal protection. Mass democracy heightens the danger by translating demographic difference into poli

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  10. Affective Alignment and Hidden Conflicts: Political Emotions in Blended Spaces of Democratic Education Classrooms

    Sonja Helkala · 2026 · Democracy & Education

    The interaction between emotions and politics is evident in democratic education settings. This study contributes to the literature on the role of political emotions in democratic education by shedding light on the significance that the new digital and social media environments have for the manifestation of political emotions in educational contexts. In Finnish schools, political issues are incorporated into the curriculum, and political questions are addressed as part of democratic education and political identities are formed. However, there has been relatively little research on political emotions in schools. This article explores political emotions in democratic education practice throug

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