Details
| Originalsprache | Englisch |
|---|---|
| Aufsatznummer | 102908 |
| Fachzeitschrift | Electoral Studies |
| Jahrgang | 95 |
| Frühes Online-Datum | 5 März 2025 |
| Publikationsstatus | Elektronisch veröffentlicht (E-Pub) - 5 März 2025 |
Abstract
A challenge in adapting the concept of affective polarization to multiparty systems has been to determine who is polarized against whom. I propose a strategy to uncover the different ways in which people construe the political field – that is, how they categorize the party landscape in terms of “us” and “them” from commonly-used survey data. Using 2023 panel data from Germany, a multiparty democracy, I show that people are polarized in opposing camps along three different divides: between Left and Right, between Mainstream and Rightwing Populists, and between Center and Extreme. To understand what people are polarized over, I explore the issue differences that underpin each of the divides. Lastly, I examine the associations between affective polarization and democratic attitudes across camps and find considerable variation in those associations. This variation suggests that perhaps not all affective polarization should be seen as equally problematic.
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
- Sozialwissenschaften (insg.)
- Politikwissenschaften und internationale Beziehungen
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in: Electoral Studies, Jahrgang 95, 102908, 06.2025.
Publikation: Beitrag in Fachzeitschrift › Artikel › Forschung › Peer-Review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The poles in polarization
T2 - Social categorization and affective polarization in multiparty systems
AU - Rothers, Adrian Jacob
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author
PY - 2025/3/5
Y1 - 2025/3/5
N2 - A challenge in adapting the concept of affective polarization to multiparty systems has been to determine who is polarized against whom. I propose a strategy to uncover the different ways in which people construe the political field – that is, how they categorize the party landscape in terms of “us” and “them” from commonly-used survey data. Using 2023 panel data from Germany, a multiparty democracy, I show that people are polarized in opposing camps along three different divides: between Left and Right, between Mainstream and Rightwing Populists, and between Center and Extreme. To understand what people are polarized over, I explore the issue differences that underpin each of the divides. Lastly, I examine the associations between affective polarization and democratic attitudes across camps and find considerable variation in those associations. This variation suggests that perhaps not all affective polarization should be seen as equally problematic.
AB - A challenge in adapting the concept of affective polarization to multiparty systems has been to determine who is polarized against whom. I propose a strategy to uncover the different ways in which people construe the political field – that is, how they categorize the party landscape in terms of “us” and “them” from commonly-used survey data. Using 2023 panel data from Germany, a multiparty democracy, I show that people are polarized in opposing camps along three different divides: between Left and Right, between Mainstream and Rightwing Populists, and between Center and Extreme. To understand what people are polarized over, I explore the issue differences that underpin each of the divides. Lastly, I examine the associations between affective polarization and democratic attitudes across camps and find considerable variation in those associations. This variation suggests that perhaps not all affective polarization should be seen as equally problematic.
KW - Affective polarization
KW - Multiparty systems
KW - Social categorization
KW - Ideological polarization
KW - Democratic attitudes
KW - Alliances
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85219410489&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.electstud.2025.102908
DO - 10.1016/j.electstud.2025.102908
M3 - Article
VL - 95
JO - Electoral Studies
JF - Electoral Studies
SN - 0261-3794
M1 - 102908
ER -