The Ethnic Origins of Affective Polarization: Statistical Evidence From Cross-National Data
Because the debate over the sources of affective polarization has so far mostly focused on the US case, scholars have rarely considered whether the politicization of ethnic differences—when elections and representative processes happen along ethnic lines—may be associated to affective polarization....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Political Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2022.920615/full |
| _version_ | 1811291199736119296 |
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| author | Max Bradley Simon Chauchard |
| author_facet | Max Bradley Simon Chauchard |
| author_sort | Max Bradley |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Because the debate over the sources of affective polarization has so far mostly focused on the US case, scholars have rarely considered whether the politicization of ethnic differences—when elections and representative processes happen along ethnic lines—may be associated to affective polarization. Looking at both country-level indicators and aggregating individual-level ones, we show that in countries in which ethnicity is politically relevant, there will be, on average, higher levels of affective polarization. This implies that high levels of affective polarization are more likely to occur in societies in which elections revolve around ethnic differences. We then show that as the share of the population who are members of the “ethnic group in power” increases, there will be, on average, a corresponding fall in affective polarization. Together, these findings reinforce the claim that ideological polarization is not the sole factor of affective polarization (AP), by showing that country-level differences in levels of AP owe, in part, to differences in the degree of ethnicization of politics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:25:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4ece2b27465e4c23b19100b8451fba33 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-3145 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:25:48Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Political Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-4ece2b27465e4c23b19100b8451fba332022-12-22T03:02:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Political Science2673-31452022-07-01410.3389/fpos.2022.920615920615The Ethnic Origins of Affective Polarization: Statistical Evidence From Cross-National DataMax Bradley0Simon Chauchard1Political Science Department, Leiden University, Leiden, NetherlandsSocial Sciences Department, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, SpainBecause the debate over the sources of affective polarization has so far mostly focused on the US case, scholars have rarely considered whether the politicization of ethnic differences—when elections and representative processes happen along ethnic lines—may be associated to affective polarization. Looking at both country-level indicators and aggregating individual-level ones, we show that in countries in which ethnicity is politically relevant, there will be, on average, higher levels of affective polarization. This implies that high levels of affective polarization are more likely to occur in societies in which elections revolve around ethnic differences. We then show that as the share of the population who are members of the “ethnic group in power” increases, there will be, on average, a corresponding fall in affective polarization. Together, these findings reinforce the claim that ideological polarization is not the sole factor of affective polarization (AP), by showing that country-level differences in levels of AP owe, in part, to differences in the degree of ethnicization of politics.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2022.920615/fullethnicizationethnic politicspolarizationpartiessocial identitydiversity |
| spellingShingle | Max Bradley Simon Chauchard The Ethnic Origins of Affective Polarization: Statistical Evidence From Cross-National Data Frontiers in Political Science ethnicization ethnic politics polarization parties social identity diversity |
| title | The Ethnic Origins of Affective Polarization: Statistical Evidence From Cross-National Data |
| title_full | The Ethnic Origins of Affective Polarization: Statistical Evidence From Cross-National Data |
| title_fullStr | The Ethnic Origins of Affective Polarization: Statistical Evidence From Cross-National Data |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Ethnic Origins of Affective Polarization: Statistical Evidence From Cross-National Data |
| title_short | The Ethnic Origins of Affective Polarization: Statistical Evidence From Cross-National Data |
| title_sort | ethnic origins of affective polarization statistical evidence from cross national data |
| topic | ethnicization ethnic politics polarization parties social identity diversity |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2022.920615/full |
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