Political participation in the age of polarization

POPAPOL examines two aspects that play an important role in the current debate on the challenges to democracy: political polarization and political participation. Political polarization refers to a development in which, among other things, differences of opinion on fundamental political issues are increasing. Political participation, the other key term, encompasses various forms of involvement in politics. Previous research points to a growing polarization of societies, while two trends have emerged in the development of participation since the turn of the millennium: a general decline in traditional, institutional forms (e.g., elections) and an increase in participation in new, non-institutional forms of political activity (e.g., demonstrations). The project addresses both critical phenomena and explores their interrelationship. The project focuses on four research questions: (1) Does increasing polarization lead to more participation or to less participation? (2) What are the consequences of different aspects of polarization (ideological, affective/emotional, and partisan) for different forms of participation (institutional and non-institutional)? (3) Are there country-specific differences that can be traced back to different levels of democratic development and different traditions of participation? (4) How do the effects of polarization on participation differ across social groups, and what role do individual values and different aspects of inequality play? POPAPOL uses quantitative methods and collects new data in the three project partner countries (Austria, Poland, and Slovenia) with two types of surveys: (1) a two-wave panel survey in which respondents are interviewed twice, and (2) surveys of participants in public demonstrations (protest surveys). In addition, a comprehensive analysis of existing survey data will be conducted. The project addresses a new research question that has not yet been systematically investigated. The research question will be approached from a comparative perspective, comparing across countries, across time, across social groups, and across forms of polarization and participation. The project will also collect high-quality data that will contribute to the improvement of social science research. The project is led by three researchers: Martin Dolezal (University of Graz, Austria), Marta Kolczynska (Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland), and Andrej Kirbiš (University of Maribor, Slovenia).