The DOI matches its Crossref record; 137 of the 141 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
American Affective Polarization in Comparative Perspective
Abstract
American political observers express increasing concern about affective polarization, i.e., partisans' resentment toward political opponents. We advance debates about America's partisan divisions by comparing affective polarization in the US over the past 25 years with affective polarization in 19 other western publics. We conclude that American affective polarization is not extreme in comparative perspective, although Americans' dislike of partisan opponents has increased more rapidly since the mid-1990s than in most other Western publics. We then show that affective polarization is more intense when unemployment and inequality are high; when political elites clash over cultural issues such as immigration and national identity; and in countries with majoritarian electoral institutions. Our findings situate American partisan resentment and hostility in comparative perspective, and illuminate correlates of affective polarization that are difficult to detect when examining the American case in isolation.
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“These studies converge on the finding that levels of affective polarization are not especially prominent in the United States, but that polarization has grown stronger there than anywhere else.”
From Affective Polarization in Comparative and Longitudinal Perspective (2023) · cites this paper as Gidron, Adams, and Horne 2020
In the citing paper
“Gidron, Adams, and Horne (2020) analyze data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) for 20 democracies over the 1996–2017 period and conclude that America’s intensifying affective polarization is not part of a cross-national trend.”
From Affective Polarization in Comparative and Longitudinal Perspective (2023) · cites this paper as Gidron, Adams, and Horne (2020)
In the citing paper
“Existent research shows that affective polarization has been intensifying in some publics, diminishing in others, and remaining stable in most.”
From Affective Polarization in Comparative and Longitudinal Perspective (2023) · cites this paper as Gidron, Adams, and Horne (2020)
In the citing paper
“Similarly, in their comparative study of twenty democracies, Gidron et al. (2020) identified Spain as the most affectively polarized country.”
From ¿Demasiado lejos? Cómo la polarización mal percibida alimenta la polarización afectiva en España (2025) · cites this paper as Gidron et al. (2020)
In the citing paper
“Spain is marked by high levels of affective polarization.”
From ¿Demasiado lejos? Cómo la polarización mal percibida alimenta la polarización afectiva en España (2025) · cites this paper as Gidron et al. (2020)
In the citing paper
“This research finds that several nations are even more polarized than the United States (Gidron et al., 2020), although the United States seems to have had the sharpest recent increase (Boxell et al., 2024;Gidron et al., 2020).”
From Measuring affective polarization: Matching concepts to measures (2026) · cites this paper as Gidron et al., 2020
In the citing paper
“This measure has been included in large, cross-national surveys such as the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) survey and the Comparative National Election Project (CNEP) (e.g., Boxell et al., 2024;Ferreira Da Silva & Garzia, 2024;Gidron et al., 2020;Wagner, 2021;Ward & Tavits, 2019).”
From Measuring affective polarization: Matching concepts to measures (2026) · cites this paper as Gidron et al., 2020
In the citing paper
“Paralleling the U.S. case, a modal measure in cross-national, multi-party contexts is a like/dislike scale, somewhat akin to the feeling thermometer.”
From Measuring affective polarization: Matching concepts to measures (2026) · cites this paper as Gidron et al., 2020
In the citing paper
“Although it is beyond the purview of our analysis, it is important to keep in mind that levels of polarization (and their political consequences) depend on a number of contextual factors65.”
From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [65]
In the citing paper
“For example, there is evidence that ideological, issue and affective polarization have increased rapidly in the USA in the past few decades339,340, but it is also true that levels of polarization in the USA are smaller than (or similar to) levels observed in other countries65,341.”
From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [65]
Citations
Cites
The Origins and Consequences of Affective Polarization in the United States
Iyengar, S., Lelkes, Y., Levendusky, M., Malhotra, N., & Westwood, S. J. (2019) · Annual Review of Political Science · doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-051117-073034 · Cited by 3,603
Iyengar, S., Sood, G., & Lelkes, Y. (2012) · Public Opinion Quarterly · doi:10.1093/poq/nfs038 · Cited by 2,996
Cultural Backlash: Trump, Brexit, and Authoritarian Populism
Norris, P., & Inglehart, R. (2019) · doi:10.1017/9781108595841 · Cited by 2,986
Fear and loathing across party lines: New evidence on group polarization
Iyengar, S., & Westwood, S. J. (2015) · American Journal of Political Science · doi:10.1111/ajps.12152 · Cited by 2,452
West European Politics in the Age of Globalization
Kriesi, H., Grande, E., Lachat, R., Dolezal, M., Bornschier, S., & Frey, T. (2008) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511790720 · Cited by 2,335
The Transformation of European Social Democracy
Kitschelt, H. P. (1994) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511622014 · Cited by 2,007
Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity
Mason, L. (2018) · doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226524689.001.0001 · Cited by 1,985
Spatial Models of Party Competition
Stokes, D. (1963) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.2307/1952828 · Cited by 1,970
Gilens, M. (1999) · University of Chicago Press eBooks · doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226293660.001.0001 · Cited by 1,803
Polarized America: the dance of ideology and unequal riches
(2007) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.44-3551 · Cited by 1,793
Research works printed but not linked: 10
- Gidron, American Affective Polarization in Comparative Perspective, 10.1017/9781108914123
- Mickey, 2017, Is America still a democracy?, Foreign Affairs, 20, 20
- Bale, 2019, Brexit and Public Opinion, 27
- Kalmoe, 2019, Lethal Mass Partisanship: Prevalence, Correlates, and Electoral Contingencies
- 10.31219/osf.io/j7d4t · DOI
- Volkens, 2017, The Manifesto Data Collection. Manifesto Project (MRG/CMP/MARPOR)
- Bonikowski, Bart , Feinstein, Yuval , and Bock, Sean . (2019). The Polarization of Nationalist Cleavages and the 2016 US Presidential Election. Annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC. · DOI
- 10.1017/9781108644655 · DOI
- Anton, Michael . (2016). “The Flight 93 election.” Claremont Review of Books, Digital Edition, September 5, 2016.
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Cross-Country Trends in Affective Polarization
Boxell, L., Gentzkow, M., & Shapiro, J. M. (2024) · Review of Economics and Statistics · doi:10.1162/rest_a_01160 · Cited by 457
Cross-Country Trends in Affective Polarization
Boxell, L., Gentzkow, M., & Shapiro, J. (2020) · doi:10.3386/w26669 · Cited by 359
Bornschier, S., Häusermann, S., Zollinger, D., & Colombo, C. (2021) · Comparative Political Studies · doi:10.1177/0010414021997504 · Cited by 278
Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts
Jost, J. T., Baldassarri, D. S., & Druckman, J. N. (2022) · Nature Reviews Psychology · doi:10.1038/s44159-022-00093-5 · Cited by 276
Interventions reducing affective polarization do not necessarily improve anti-democratic attitudes
Voelkel, J., Chu, J., Stagnaro, M., Mernyk, J., Redekopp, C., Pink, S. L., Druckman, J., Rand, D., & Willer, R. (2022) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01466-9 · Cited by 179
Metadata
- Authors
- Gidron, N., Adams, J., & Horne, W.
- Affiliations
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Princeton University (US)
- Venue
- Cambridge University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Published
- 2020-11-02
- OpenAlex
- W3095877091
- Cited by
- 481
- References
- 141
- Citations by year
- 2026: 62 · 2025: 113 · 2024: 103 · 2023: 82 · 2022: 69 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 4
- FWCI
- 83.81
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Populism, Right-Wing Movements
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
- Keywords
- affective polarization, political hostility, partisan divisions, comparative politics, unemployment, income inequality, immigration, national identity, majoritarian systems, political elites, United States
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