Mass Polarization and Democratic Decline: Evidence of a Negligible Relationship

• In Event: JSS: Antidemocratic Actions and Attitudes

Brief Overview

This paper argues that mass polarization is not likely to lead to democratic backsliding. A novel data set of panel estimates over a half-century lends empirical support and suggests that democratic crises lead to polarization, not vice versa.

Author

• Isaac Mehlhaff, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill