Award for political science study

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A research team of political scientists from various institutions, including the University of Lucerne, has conducted research into polarizing emotions towards political parties and their leading politicians. They have now been awarded an international prize for their work.

The "2024 GESIS Klingemann Prize for the Best CSES Scholarship" is awarded for the essay "Patterns of Affective Polarization toward Parties and Leaders across the Democratic World". This was written by Andres Reiljan (University of Tartu/Estonia), Diego Garzia and Frederico Ferreira Da Silva (both University of Lausanne) and Alexander H. Trechsel , Professor of Political Science with a focus on Political Communication at the University of Lucerne, and has been published in the internationally renowned political science journal "American Political Science Review". The award is presented by the collaborative program "Comparative Study of Electoral Systems" (CSES) based at the University of Michigan (USA). According to the laudatory speech, the study combines "both in its theoretical discussion and in its empirical research design, two research directions that have previously developed separately: Polarization and personalization."

As part of the research, the team compared party affective polarization (PAP) with leader affective polarization (LAP). Affective polarization refers to the process when voters experience positive feelings towards their preferred party or towards those who lead it - in contrast to negative feelings towards other parties and their exponents. Among other things, it was shown that in 37 of the 40 democratic countries surveyed, affective polarization towards leaders is lower than towards parties. This makes it clear that political parties continue to play a central role in the political perception of voters. One exception is the USA, where the LAP exceeds the PAP. According to the researchers, this is partly due to the two-party presidential system in the USA.

The project was funded by the Research Commission of the University of Lucerne with CHF 6,000 and with CHF 2,000 as part of Diego Garzia’s SNSF "Eccellenza" assistant professorship.

Andres Reiljan, Diego Garzia, Frederico Ferreira Da Silva, Alexander H. Trechsel
Patterns of Affective Polarization toward Parties and Leaders across the Democratic World
American Political Science Review, Volume 118, Issue 2, May 2024
Open access call for the study