The impact of relational goals on political polarization

Author(s):  
Chadly Stern
2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis N. Ridout ◽  
Erika Franklin Fowler ◽  
Michael M. Franz ◽  
Kenneth Goldstein

Scholars agree that there has been an increase in polarization among political elites, though there continues to be debate on the extent to which polarization exists among the mass public. Still, there is general agreement that the American public has become more sorted over the past two decades, a time during which political ad volumes have increased and ads have become more negative. In this research, we explore whether there is a link between the two. We take advantage of variation in the volume and tone of political advertising across media markets to examine the link between advertising and three dependent variables: issue polarization, affective polarization, and sorting. We focus on the impact of both recent ad exposure and cumulative ad exposure across several election cycles. Ultimately, we find little impact of advertising on polarization or sorting, both overall and among subgroups of the population.


Author(s):  
Bruno De Oliveira Chagas ◽  
Ana Paula Moritz

Our work aims to analyze the impact of political polarization on movieratings at the IMDB platform. For that we explore the concepts of Word ofMouth and Buzz marking the important role they play on polarized opinionsin movie ratings.We develop a code on python to perform web-scrapping onthe sample scope of Brazilian movies and interpret the data collected using acontroversiality index based on standard deviation. The outcome sheds somelight into the relation between Buzz and Controversiality within theframework of Brazil’s current political scenario.


Author(s):  
James N. Druckman ◽  
Arthur Lupia

Science can serve as a valuable foundation for the making of public policy. For science to have this effect, it must be effectively communicated to individuals, organizations, and institutions. Effective science communication often involves frames that highlight particular aspects of a scientific finding or issue. This chapter discusses ways in which frames can be used to facilitate effective scientific communication—particularly we explore the impact of frames with regard to attention limitations, political polarization, and the politicization of science. We also highlight unanswered questions and challenges. The main lesson of this chapter is that there are certain conditions under which choosing particular frames yields more effective communication. While understanding these conditions does not guarantee success, it can help science communicators avoid common mistakes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Stoddard ◽  
Jason Chen

This article presents results of a study of the impact of political dynamics on group deliberations of issues presented in the short film The Response. We selected four groups of 18-22 year-old participants based on political views, engagement, and efficacy (liberal, conservative, and two mixed groups), and asked them to view and discuss issues presented in The Response related to the combatant status review tribunals held at Guantanamo Bay. We found the groups with mixed political views had higher quality discussions of the issues and a better understanding of the issues post-discussion – in particular the tension between national security versus individual rights and of the nature of the tribunals. We also found a significant number of conservative group members became more conservative in their views as a result of their discussion. We discuss implications for secondary and post-secondary education as well as for political polarization overall in society.


Author(s):  
Patrice Ladwig

Lao Buddhism’s histories are deeply fragmented. Most Lao were deported to Siam in the nineteenth century, and after the demise of the French colonial regime, the country was drawn into the Second Indochina War. After two decades of brutal warfare and massive destructions, the Lao communist movement took power in 1975. This chapter examines the history of Lao Buddhism in the context of these events, and puts its main focus on the entanglement of religion and politics in the postcolonial phase, as the political polarization of the Lao sangha during the Cold War and the impact of the subsequent revolution remain crucial for understanding Buddhism’s position in the current Lao PDR. While under reformed socialism there has been a resurgence of Buddhism in the last two decades, the social and religious transformations resulting from rapid modernization through the capitalist economy and globalization bring new challenges for the Lao sangha.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-270
Author(s):  
Kastolani Kastolani

Various prior studies on Islamophobia had largely utilized Western perspectives.This occurred on account of Islam and Muslims being a minority group that is considered as a threat to the majority. This article discusses the delivery of Islamophobic hate speech via social media in the context of Indonesia, where the majority of the population are Muslims. This study found that the delivery of hate speech concerning via social media in the Indonesian context can be understood in three different manners, namely: First, Islamophobia is a reaction to religious sermons delivered by Muslim pundits discrediting other religions, particularly the Christian faith. Second, Islamophobia is a form of freedom of expression for netizens in Indonesia’s current democratic climate. Third, Islamophobia is a form of identity politics for netizens on social media due to the impact of religious based political polarization. Subsequently, this study contributes a new understanding of Islamophobia within the context of Muslims as the majority and of netizens’ activities on social media in Indonesia. The research data were obtained by observing Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter timelines containing Islamophobic hate speech that had gone viral on social media. Berbagai penelitian sebelumnya tentang Islamophobia sebagian besar telah memanfaatkan perspektif Barat. Artikel ini mendiskusikan penyampaian ujaran kebencian Islamophobia melalui media sosial dalam konteks Indonesia sebagai negara yang mayoritas penduduknya penganut agama Islam (muslim). Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa penyampaian ujaran kebencian tentang Islamophobia melalui media sosial dalam konteks Indonesia dapat dibaca sebagai tiga hal, yaitu: Pertama, Islamophobia merupakan reaksi terhadap ceramah keagamaan dari kalangan agamawan muslim yang mendiskreditkan agama lain, terutama keyakinan agama Kristen. Kedua, Islamophobia merupakan bentuk kebebasan berekspresi bagi netizen dalam iklim demokrasi di Indonesia saat ini. Ketiga, Islamophobia merupakan bentuk politik identitas netizen di media sosial karena dampak polarisasi politik berbasis keagamaan. Sehingga, penelitian ini berkontribusi terhadap pemahaman baru tentang Islamophobia dalam konteks muslim sebagai mayoritas dan aktivitas netizen di media sosial di Indonesia. Data penelitian diperoleh dari pengamatan terhadap media social seperti facebook, Instagram, YouTube dan Twitter yang memuat ujaran kebencian tentang Islamophobia yang viral di media social.


Author(s):  
EMMANOUIL MAVROZACHARAKIS

People expect the state to provide them with a social security net. Whatever its defects, whatever the virtues of the private sector, no structure other than the state can today provide citizens with the basic public goods. Under right-wing governments, a very active role of the state is not expected. Also, is nor expected the introduction of a serious program of public investment and demand-boosting to stimulate the national economy and enter into a virtuous circle of recovery. Today many countries like Greece, which passed the economic crisis with drastic cuts in its traditionally deficient welfare state and its chronic underinvestment in public goods in key areas such as health, have to respond directly to the pandemic crisis. This fact leads in the short term to a revival of the debate on strengthening state powers and especially in strengthening public health systems. Political polarization is expected in the period after the end of the pandemic crisis focusing on welfare state issues. This, most likely, will leave plenty of space for social democratic and Keynesian approaches. In several countries like Greece, the right-wing governance will come under pressure leading even to rifts in its hegemony.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 99-113
Author(s):  
Bethany P. Bryson

Purpose Research on opinion polarization in the USA repeatedly finds more divergence among politically privileged groups: respondents who are college educated, politically interested, party identified or have a liberal/conservative orientation. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether their excluded counterparts can be polarized by exposure to political information on the internet. Design/methodology/approach Quantile regression and visual analysis of raw data from the online and face-to-face samples in the 2012 and 2016 American National Election Studies (n=9,563) assessed the impact of online political information on opinion polarization among ideological moderates, political Independents, respondents without a college degree, and those with low interest in politics. Findings Exposure to online political information during the survey was associated with significant polarizing shifts toward more consistent ideological positions in all four groups. Practical implications Engaging the middle is a social justice issue as much as a matter of political conflict, and evidence suggests that politically excluded groups use the internet to translate their own views into the language of policy opinions and popular (polarized) politics. Recommended policy interventions include information literacy programs. Further research should use experimental models and browser histories. Originality/value Current research on political polarization leaves open the question of whether larger portions of the electorate are available to join the fray. This study shows that excluded publics can be polarized via exposure to online information.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1007-1034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M Chwieroth ◽  
Andrew Walter

The co-evolution of democratic politics and mass, financialized wealth has destabilized highly integrated financial systems and the socio-political underpinnings of neoliberal policy norms at domestic and global levels. Over the long run, it has increased the political pressure on governments to undertake bailouts during major banking crises and, by raising voters’ attentiveness to wealth losses and distributional inequities, has sharply raised the bar for government performance. The result has been more costly bailouts, greater political instability and the sustained politicization of wealth cleavages in crisis aftermaths. We underline the crucial importance and modernity of this phenomenon by showing how the high concentration of wealth in pre-1914 Britain and America among elites was associated with limited crisis interventions and surprisingly tranquil political aftermaths. By contrast, the 2007–2009 crises in both countries epitomise the political dilemmas facing elected governments in a new world of mass financialized wealth and the impact on political polarization and democratic politics. We show that these dilemmas were embryonic in the interwar period and highlight how the evolutionary forces shaping policy and political outcomes reveal the importance of time, context and the effects of long cycles in the world economy and global politics.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Vecchi ◽  
Emmanuel Sirimal Silva ◽  
Lina Maria Jimenez Angel

PurposeThe objective of this research is to propose a framework which is apt to assess how a nation branding campaign could promote cultural identity by ultimately curbing political polarization.Design/methodology/approachBy relying on a multidisciplinary approach that blends theoretical constructs from different fields the methodology is based on a mixed-method approach whereby the qualitative data stemming from a set of interviews with key-informants is coupled by a survey of Colombian citizens in order to gain in-depth insights over the impact of nation branding on political polarization.FindingsFrom the findings, it emerges that a campaign based on nation branding and targeting domestic citizens could curb political polarization within Colombia, by also fostering cultural identity.Research limitations/implicationsThe study considers only Colombia. To fully assess the robustness of the framework it would be useful to extend the analysis to a broader range of countries and to a wider set of domestic issues.Practical implicationsThe research not only provides in-depth insights on how nation branding can be used effectively in order to curb political polarization but also practical guidance on how a nation branding campaign can be effectively designed. The findings are relevant to policy-makers that have the opportunity to implement informed and educated nation branding campaigns not just overseas, but also to strategically address important domestic issues by engaging the domestic stakeholders.Originality/valueWhile country branding has been extensively investigated within the context of international business, we have a relatively limited understanding of its domestic impact. In contrast to traditional country branding literature, this paper aims to theoretically advance our understanding of nation branding and its effect on political polarization, as well as gauging its impact on cultural identity.


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