How Does Issue-Based Affective Polarization Affect Democratic Political Culture? Evidence from Europe

A growing body of evidence suggests that citizens in Western democracies are becoming increasingly hostile toward one another, engaging in stereotyping and avoiding those who hold different views. Although affective polarization is considered a significant threat to liberal democracy, its impact on democratic political culture remains largely unexplored. Moreover, most research focuses on political parties and partisan affiliations as the primary sources of mutual dislike and hostility, even though recent crises have demonstrated that conflicting views on specific issues, such as immigration, climate change, social security, and the war in Ukraine, can also create powerful lines of division. 

Drawing on two waves of original survey data collected in 2025 and 2026 across eight European Union member states, this study analyzes the relationship between issue-based affective polarization and democratic attitudes. It develops and operationalizes a generalized concept of issue-based affective polarization and investigates how it relates to citizens' support for and evaluations of democracy, their perceptions of democratic vulnerability, and how political disagreement affects social cohesion and citizens' willingness to engage with those holding opposing views.

About the Speaker

Maik Herold is a Senior Research Associate (Postdoctoral Researcher) at the Mercator Forum for Democracy and Migration at Dresden University of Technology (Germany), where he earned his Ph.D. in Political Science. His research focuses on political culture, populism, polarization, and conspiracy beliefs across Europe. He is a co-author of the European Polarization Barometer and several foundational books on German right-wing populism.