Depolarization Strategies

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Which strategies of depolarization are effective? Under which conditions? The third wave of autocratization has been marked by increased levels of polarization and gradual power grabs by the incumbents. In response, opposition parties and civil society actors adopted specific framing; cooperated, and enacted certain programs and mobilization strategies. They have aimed to reduce polarization as an electoral strategy to win against the authoritarian/populist incumbent, as exemplified by the cases of Turkey, Russia, Hungary, and Poland. However, we still lack systematic evidence about under which conditions these strategies of depolarization pay off. This panel brings experts specializing in political/affective polarization and electoral authoritarianism to discuss innovative methods designed to examine the effectiveness of depolarization strategies.

Sub Unit

• Division 44: Democracy and Autocracy

Chair

• James S. Fishkin Stanford University

Discussant

• Matthew S. Levendusky University of Pennsylvania

Individual Presentations

• Does Every Cloud Have a Silver Lining? Disasters and Polarization - Semuhi Sinanoglu, University of Toronto; Michael J. Donnelly, University of Toronto

• Affective Polarization and Support for Undemocratic Behavior in Russia - Yunus E Orhan, North Dakota State University; Bryn Rosenfeld, Cornell University; Ora John Reuter, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

• What Can De-polarize the Polarizers? Affective Polarization for Party Activists - Costin Marius Viorel Ciobanu, Aarhus University; Daniel Sandu, University of Fribourg

• Demand for Online News, Inertia, and Misperceptions - Roee Levy, Tel Aviv University; Hannah Trachtman; Luca Braghieri