PsyPost reports:

Affective polarization — one’s level of animosity towards political rivals – tends to decline in the wake of elections, according to new research that examined data from 42 countries. The study, published in the journal Electoral Studies, indicates that this depolarization is partially the result of citizens becoming less strongly attached to political parties over time.

“Affective polarization is one of the main concerns for the health and quality of contemporary democracies. Some polarization may be beneficial for democracy, since it can, for example, increase turnout in elections. However, intense affective polarization could be detrimental for the quality of democracy and could even become a driver of democratic decay,” said study author Enrique Hernández of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

“If citizens see their political opponents as existential enemies, most compromises among parties will be deemed unacceptable (which might result in political gridlock) and individuals might be more likely to justify the violation of democratic norms. In other words, if citizens profoundly dislike the parties they do not identify with, this puts a strain in the pluralistic values of respect for diversity that democracies are expected to protect and promote.”

For their study, the researchers analyzed 99 post-electoral surveys conducted between 1996 and 2016 through the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. In the surveys, the participants were asked to indicate how much they liked or disliked various national political parties on a 10-point scale. [Continue reading…]