Affective polarization in multiparty systems

Abstract

Affective polarization captures the extent to which citizens feel sympathy towardspartisan in-groups and antagonism towards partisan out-groups. This is comparativelyeasy to assess in two-party systems. This paper first discusses challengesin applying the concept to multiparty setting and then presents different ways ofmeasuring affective polarization using like-dislike scores, a widespread measure ofparty sympathy. Using data for 41 countries and 124 elections from four modulesof the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, I then show that affective polarizationadds to existing concepts as a way of understanding political participationand democratic orientations. Studying affective polarization outside the US couldtherefore have important consequences for our understanding of citizen perceptionsof politics as well as citizen behaviour.

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