Towards global equity in political polarization research

Max Falkenberg, Matteo Cinelli, Alessandro Galeazzi, Christopher A. Bail, Rosa Benito, Axel Bruns, Anatoliy Gruzd, David Lazer, Jae K. Lee and Jennifer McCoy
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Jennifer McCoy: Georgia State University

No 3wzfq_v1, OSF Preprints from Center for Open Science

Abstract: With a folk understanding that political polarization refers to socio-political divisions within a society, many have proclaimed that we are more divided than ever. In this account, polarization has been blamed for populism, the erosion of social cohesion, the loss of trust in the institutions of democracy, legislative dysfunction, and the collective failure to address existential risks such as Covid-19 or climate change. However, at a global scale there is surprisingly little academic literature which conclusively supports these claims, with half of all studies being U.S.-focused. Here, we provide an overview of the global state of research on polarization, highlighting insights that are robust across countries, those unique to specific contexts, and key gaps in the literature. We argue that addressing these gaps is urgent, but has been hindered thus far by systemic and cultural barriers, such as regionally stratified restrictions on data access and misaligned research incentives. If continued cross-disciplinary inertia means that these disparities are left unaddressed, we see a substantial risk that countries will adopt policies to tackle polarization based on inappropriate evidence, risking flawed decision-making and the weakening of democratic institutions.

Date: 2025-04-16
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pol
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:osfxxx:3wzfq_v1

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/3wzfq_v1

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