Browsing by Subject "Affective polarization"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    How polarization, populist attitudes, and cultural backlash affect citizens' support for democracy: evidence from Spain
    (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 2025-02-04) Palacios Brihuega, Irene; Garrido, Antonio (Garrido Rubia); Martínez, Antonia (Martínez Rodríguez); Ciencia Política, Antropología Social y Hacienda Pública; Facultades de la UMU::Facultad de Derecho
    In recent years, substantial scholarly attention has been devoted to understanding the consequences of three increasing phenomena on democratic legitimacy: populism, polarization, and cultural backlash. While the literature has widely acknowledged the common roots of the three phenomena and the way they mutually influence each other, little is known about their empirical relationship at the attitudinal level. Using data from Spain, this article examines whether and how affective polarization, populist attitudes, and cultural backlash values are connected to citizens’ attitudes, and the extent to which they affect support for democracy as the best form of government. The results indicate that holding consistently populist views, conservative cultural values, and being affectively polarized is particularly harmful for democracy when this attitudinal pattern is maintained by younger individuals. We discuss the implications that socialization in democratic environments marked by frequent populist rhetoric and rising polarization might have on younger generations’ democratic commitment. -----------
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    La inmigración como tema polarizador en España
    (Asociación Latinoamericana de Investigadores en Campañas Electorales (ALICE), 2025) Bakdid Albane, Kaoutar; Clavero Mira, Esther; García Escribano, Juan José; Sociología; Facultad de Trabajo Social
    Political polarisation is a phenomenon that has become increasingly relevant in recent decades, especially with regard to sensitive issues such as immigration, abortion, feminism and climate change. Traditionally, the concept of polarisation refers to the degree of division between groups or individuals based on political, economic, cultural, religious or ethnic factors. Although this phenomenon has been studied in the United States since the 1970s, its reproduction in Western democracies, especially in Europe, has been remarkable. Spain stands out as one of the most polarised countries in the Western world, along with Greece. In this context, immigration has emerged as one of the most divisive issues, due to the perceived threat it generates in identity and economic terms, exacerbating social and political tensions. This article sets out to analyse how polarisation around immigration has increased in recent years, highlighting the factors that contribute to this dynamic in the Spanish case.
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    Methodology for measuring individual affective polarization using sentiment analysis in social networks
    (2024-07-22) Martínez España, Raquel; Fernández-Pedauye, Julio; Giner-Pérez de Lucia, José; Rojo Martínez, José Miguel; Bakdid-Albane, Kaoutar; García Escribano, Juan José; Sociología; Facultad de Trabajo Social
    Affective polarization has important consequences for societies and institutions. At the institutional level, it hinders agreement among political actors, which damages the stability of the system. At the social level, it increases tensions and conflicts between people, damaging coexistence. Until now, affective polarization has been studied essentially through surveys, which are generally very costly if large and representative samples are to be obtained and in which the answers of the interviewees may not be totally sincere. Through this article, we apply sentiment analysis techniques to measure affective polarization without resorting to surveys, simply by monitoring the non-self-reported behavior of individuals in social networks. To do that, a novel methodology and a new indicator of affective polarization has been proposed using data from social networks. The proposed methodology and new indicator have been applied to the real case study of the regional elections in Spain, specifically to the autonomous Region of Murcia. The application of the methodology has been satisfactory, as well as that of the new indicator of affective polarization, providing a cost-effective way of calculating polarization. The results show that all political groups are polarized to a greater or lesser extent. Furthermore, the results conclude that the winning ideology in the elections, i.e., the right, was the one whose supporters behaved differently from the supporters of other ideologies.