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Seminar: 08-26-MAPW-M4-1 Political Polarization and Democratic Backsliding: Empirical Explorations of Causes and Consequences - Details

Seminar: 08-26-MAPW-M4-1 Political Polarization and Democratic Backsliding: Empirical Explorations of Causes and Consequences - Details

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Veranstaltungsname Seminar: 08-26-MAPW-M4-1 Political Polarization and Democratic Backsliding: Empirical Explorations of Causes and Consequences
Untertitel Forschungsseminar
Veranstaltungsnummer 08-26-MAPW-M4-1
Semester SoSe 2026
Aktuelle Anzahl der Teilnehmenden 7
erwartete Teilnehmendenanzahl 25
Heimat-Einrichtung Politik
Veranstaltungstyp Seminar in der Kategorie Lehre
Nächster Termin Donnerstag, 28.05.2026 14:00 - 18:00, Ort: UNICOM 3.0230 Seminarraum 3
Art/Form
Englischsprachige Veranstaltung Ja
Veranstaltung für ältere Erwachsene Ja
Anzahl ältere Erwachsene 3
ECTS-Punkte 12

Kommentar/Beschreibung

The term “political polarization” generally describes social processes of differentiation, and reinforcement of differences in political attitudes and behavior. To approach the phenomenon of political polarization theoretically and empirically, the research seminar consists of a theoretical and a practical component.
Theoretical Part: This section follows the structure of a literature review. It begins with an overview of fundamental theories of election and decision-making research, before focusing on national and international contributions to election and decision-making research on the topic of political polarization. Polarization processes can be observed in a wide variety of policy fields (populism, climate policy, migration, demography, understanding of science, social policy, moral policy, etc.). Particular attention will be paid to the question of how social group affiliations and social identities affect the differentiation of political attitudes and political behavior in these areas. Effective instruments to counteract political polarization processes at the national and international levels will be discussed.
Methodological part: Based on the literature section, theoretical expectations about the possible causes and effects of political polarization will be derived and then operationalized for empirical analysis. The theoretical content is therefore closely linked to an application-oriented teaching of the statistical analysis of survey data with R. The methodological part of the seminar includes a brief introduction to data and methods of empirical research. First, relevant data sources are presented in order to examine phenomena of political polarization from a micro-based perspective (in particular ALLBUS and GLES). This is followed by an introduction to the analysis of survey data with R, with a focus on the visualization of empirical results.
The goal of the seminar is to develop original theory-driven empirical research projects, in order to contribute to a better understanding and analysis of political polarization processes.

Preparatory literature:
Bischof, D. and Wagner, M. 2019. Do Voters Polarize When Radical Parties Enter Parliament? American Journal of Political Science, 63: 888-904.
Broockman, D.E., Kalla, J.L. and Westwood, S.J. 2023. Does Affective Polarization Undermine Democratic Norms or Accountability? Maybe Not. American Journal of Political Science 67(3): 808-828.
Bueno De Mesquita, E. and Fowler, A. (2021) Thinking Clearly with Data: A Guide to Quantitative Reasoning and Analysis. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Jankowski, Michael, Christina-Marie Juen and Markus Tepe 2023. Voting Against Parties: Populist Attitudes, Party Supply, and Support for Non-Partisan Actors, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties (online first).
Mau, S., Lux, T. and Westheuser, L. (2023) Triggerpunkte: Konsens und Konflikt in der Gegenwartsgesellschaft. Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp.

Type of examination (CP) [credits and assignments]:

12 credit points. The examination consists of five parts.

Session chair (15%): The session chairs provide an overview of a journal article (required readings), introduce questions and discussion topics, and moderate the subsequent discussion. As a basis for the discussion, the chairs prepare a 5-minute critical review of the journal article.

Presentation of the project idea (not graded): In a 10-minute presentation, students present their research question, the theoretical framework, the hypothesis derived from it, and the preliminary research design. They receive feedback from their fellow students and the instructors,which they incorporate into their further project work.

Presentation of the statistical analysis (not graded): Based on existing survey data, the participants operationalize their theoretical constructs and test their hypotheses using statistical methods.

Scientific poster (20%): Summary of the empirical results and defense of the project work in the form of a scientific poster.

Research note (65%): Writing up the theory-driven empirical research work in the form of a research note (max. 5000 words).

Anmeldemodus

Die Auswahl der Teilnehmenden wird nach der Eintragung manuell vorgenommen.

Nutzer/-innen, die sich für diese Veranstaltung eintragen möchten, erhalten nähere Hinweise und können sich dann noch gegen eine Teilnahme entscheiden.