Identity and/or Ideology? The Bases of Affective Polarization in Chile

• In Event: Political Parties and American Democracy Mini-Conference I: Polarization in Developing Democracies

Abstract

Two apparently contradictory phenomena can be observed in Chilean politics today: high and rising levels of affective polarization and very low and declining levels of party identification. How can citizens polarize if what is usually understood as the basis for political identity -political parties- do not attract people’s hearts and minds? This paper addresses this question by considering the basis of affective polarization within the Chilean public. It argues that the answer relies on how people define “us” versus “them” and whether those differences are based on social and political sorting and/or ideological or policy issue differences. The paper uses different public opinion surveys to address these issues.

Author

• Carolina Segovia, Universidad Diego Portales