Affective Polarisation in Times of Political Instability and Conflict. Spain from a Comparative Perspective
Open accessAbstract
This is an introductory article for a special issue on affective polarisation in Spain. After discussing the concept and its operationalisation in multi-party settings, we offer data on affective polarisation in Spain and Southern Europe from a comparative perspective using the Comparative National Election Project (CNEP) and Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES). In the second part, we pay special attention to the Spanish case, analysing different dimensions of affective polarisation and its evolution overtime, by taking advantage of an extensive number of indicators from the E-DEM panel survey. Finally, we describe its relationship with ideological polarisation and analyse its possible multidimensional nature. We conclude by introducing the rest of contributions of this special issue.
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Torcal and Comellas (2022) highlight two key moments of heightened affective polarization in Spain between 1993 and 2019 based on evaluations of political leaders: during the 2008 and 2015 general elections.
“Torcal and Comellas (2022) highlight two key moments of heightened affective polarization in Spain between 1993 and 2019 based on evaluations of political leaders: during the 2008 and 2015 general elections.”
From ¿Demasiado lejos? Cómo la polarización mal percibida alimenta la polarización afectiva en España (2025) · cites this paper as Torcal and Comellas (2022)
Spain is marked by high levels of affective polarization.
“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 Torcal and Comellas (2022)
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Cites
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Sorted by citations
Polarisation, identity and affect - conceptualising affective polarisation in multi-party systems
Röllicke, L. (2023) · Electoral Studies · doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102655 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Comellas, J. M., & Torcal, M. (2023) · Electoral Studies · doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102615 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Self-citationNordbrandt, M. (2022) · Frontiers in Political Science · doi:10.3389/fpos.2022.921188 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Third, the study contributes to the growing comparative research agenda on affective polarization polarization (Gidron et al., 2020; Reiljan, 2020; Boxell et al., 2022), by zooming in on Spain at an interesting point in time—namely, the 6 months preceding the 2018–2019 election year.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialCuéllar Rivero, R. (2024) · Revista Española de Ciencia Política · doi:10.21308/recp.64.07 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Palacios Brihuega, I., Garrido Rubia, A., & Martínez Rodríguez, A. (2025) · Revista Internacional de Sociología · doi:10.3989/ris.2024.82.4.1304 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
¿Demasiado lejos? Cómo la polarización mal percibida alimenta la polarización afectiva en España
Rojo-Martínez, J. M. (2025) · Papers. Revista de Sociologia · doi:10.5565/rev/papers.3363
Cuéllar Rivero, R. (2026) · Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas · doi:10.5477/cis/reis.194.25-44
“Esta está especialmente orientada hacia los líderes políticos (Orriols y León, 2020; Torcal y Comellas, 2022) (Serani, 2022).”
- Authors
- Torcal, M., & Comellas, J. M.
- Affiliations
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Torcal, Mariano
- Venue
- South European Society and Politics
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2022-01-02
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-26
- ISSN
- 1360-8746 (ISSN-L)
- 1743-9612
- OpenAlex
- W4223554657
- Cited by
- 101
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 8
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- South European Society & Politics (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion)
- Repositori digital de la UPF (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (2019)
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (2019)
- 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 instability, political conflict, multiparty system, ideological polarization, Spanish politics, Southern Europe, comparative politics, Comparative Study of Electoral Systems
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