Diffused Polarisation: Issue Diversity and Satisfaction with Democracy

• In Event: Measuring, Assessing and Evaluating Changes in European Party Politics

Abstract

Does the impact of party system polarization on democratic outcomes depend on the range of issues voters care about? Recent debates on polarization have focused on the negative effect of polarized systems on a number of democratic outcomes. We find that polarization has a negative effect on an important measure of the quality of democratic systems, satisfaction with democracy, at the individual level. However, we demonstrate that at high levels of issue diversity, defined as societal contestation taking place over a wide range of issues, the negative effect of polarization is minimized. Drawing on the deliberative democracy literature, we argue that at low levels of issue diversity, polarization makes compromise in society less likely and the political discourse more antagonistic. At higher levels of issue diversity, contestation and conflict can be diffused over a large range of issues, providing more favourable conditions for collective will formation and, ultimately, higher levels of satisfaction with democracy. We test our argument empirically combining observational data from the Eurobarometer with a survey experiment and evidence from online focus groups.

Authors

• Julian Hoerner, London School of Economics and Political Science

• Sara B Hobolt, London School of Economics