PhD Summary: Friends or Foes, Does Polarisation Really Undermine Democracy? Understanding the Two-Way Relationship Between Polarisation Dynamics and the Processes and Institutions of Democratic Contestation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54195/plc.25310Keywords:
affective polarization, democracy, institutional design, political violence, political intolerance, support for democracyAbstract
The relationship between polarisation and democracy has become a central concern in political science, yet the nature of this connection remains contested. This dissertation addresses the puzzle by arguing that to understand the democratic implications of polarisation, we must distinguish between different types of polarisation and different types of democratic institutional design. It finds that only societal polarisation in the form of social distance and negative emotions relates with anti-democratic attitudes, and that consensus democracies can act as a buffer, weakening the link between high levels of polarisation and its most destructive outcomes. In short, it reminds us that polarisation is not uniformly harmful and that conflict is a normal part of democracy.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Kamil Bernaerts (Author)
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