Jan 09, 2024; Talk
Hybrider Vortrag (engl) von Andres Reiljan, EUI: Fear and loathing across party lines in the (democratic) world: Affective polarization in comparative perspective.
Andres Reiljan is a post-doctoral researcher at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. He earned his PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the EUI in 2021, and holds MA and BA degrees from the University of Tartu. Andres’s research is primarily focused on affective polarization in contemporary politics, but he has also worked extensively on voting advice applications and methods of party positioning. His articles have been published in journals such as American Political Science Review, Journal of European Public Policy, European Journal of Political Research and Party Politics.
In his presentation, Andres Reiljan will explore some of the key aspects of affective polarization, with a particular focus on its manifestations in multiparty contexts. He will first address the very basic question „What is (and what is not) affective polarization?“, arguing for a multidimensional definition of the concept. He will then discuss how we can measure affective polarization and explore which are the most/least polarized countries in the world. Moreover, Reiljan will show that partisan feelings are structured very differently across party systems, leading to different outcomes. Finally, using recently collected original survey data, he will examine some of the most problematic manifestations of affective polarization, such as discriminating against fellow citizens based on their party preference and engaging in partisan motivated reasoning.
The lecture takes place in person at the von-Gerber-Bau, Room 221, or via Zoom.