Opinion Polarization on Identity Politics and Denationalization Issues: A Longitudinal Comparative Perspective

本项目由两个研究问题组成：(1)从20世纪80年代到2018年，在身份政治和去民族化问题上的意见分化在多大程度上增加了？以及(2)在过去的三十年里，居住地的城市化水平在多大程度上增加了对这两个问题领域的意见分化的解释？为此，我计划从开始进行(1)广泛的西方统一民主国家的主要国际社会调查和(2)一些全球化程度相似但政治制度不同的西方统一民主国家(即德国、法国、荷兰、英国和美国)的主要国家社会调查开始，系统地分析身份政治和非国有化问题的项目。身份政治和非国有化问题已经成为塑造右翼民粹主义政党和--在对立的一端--绿党和其他拥有世界性计划的政党成功的关键。此外，在过去几十年里，西方民主国家的政治行为者日益将这些问题领域政治化。反过来，这很可能转化为日益两极分化的意见，并由此在这些问题领域的公民中进行政治动员。此外，一系列新兴的实证研究指出，居住隔离在意见两极分化以及右翼民粹主义和世界主义政治行为者目前日益成功的过程中发挥了关键作用。该项目的S对三十多年来的社会调查数据进行了系统分析，将为我们提供有关西方统一民主国家当前最显著的政治分歧之一的起源、演变和构成的重要见解。此外，由于它的重点是居民意见两极分化，该项目将提供对这一政治分歧背后假定的关键因素之一的起源和发展的细微了解。因此，该项目的主题不仅具有很高的科学性，而且具有很高的社会和政治相关性。

This project is composed of two research questions: (1) to which extent did opinion polarization on identity politics and denationalization issues in its multidimensionality increase from the 1980s to 2018? and (2) to which extent did the urbanization level of the place of residence gain in importance in explaining opinion polarization on these two issue domains over the last three decades? To this end, I plan to systematically analyze items on identity politics and denationalization issues from the beginning of the conduction (1) of the main international social surveys across a broad range of Western consolidated democracies and (2) of the main national social surveys in a selection of Western consolidated democracies with a similar level of globalization but with contrasting political systems (i.e., Germany, France, the Netherlands, the UK and the US). Identity politics and denationalization issues have become pivotal in shaping the success of right-wing populist parties and—at the opposing end—green parties and other parties with a cosmopolitan program. Furthermore, these issue domains have been increasingly politicized by political actors of Western democracies in the last decades. This, in turn, is likely to translate into increasingly polarized opinions and a resulting political mobilization among citizens along these issue domains. Moreover, a burgeoning strand of empirical studies has been pointing to the key role played by residential segregation in opinion polarization and in the current growing success of right-wing populist and cosmopolitan political actors. The project´s systematic analysis of social survey data covering more than three decades will provide essential insights into the origin, evolution and composition of one of the current most salient political divides in Western consolidated democracies. Moreover, with its focus on residential opinion polarization this project will provide a fine-grained understanding on the origin and development of one of the assumed key factors behind this political divide. The topic of this project has therefore not only a high scientific, but also a high societal and political relevance.