Elite Polarization

Ideological polarization on the elite level can be measured in its simplest form as the absolute ideological distance between the positions of the most extreme party on the left and the most extreme party on the right of the political spectrum.

A number of studies have examined whether ideological polarization among parties translates into affective polarization among the mass public (Banda and Cluverius (2018)). However, as these studies were conducted in the dichotomous US party system, the question remains to what extent these findings generalize to multiparty systems.

On the other hand, very few studies have looked at elite affective polarization, i.e. the level of dislike between politicians. Such is difficult to grasp, as it would require anonymous surveying of elected officials.

Leininger, A., Grünewald, F. & Buntfuß, N. (2023, August 11).
Ideological and affective polarization in multiparty systems. doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/mz6rs

Measures

Measure	Polarization
Dispersion	ideological, elite
Party-System Compactness	ideological, elite
Other Polarization Measurements	ideological, issue, affective, elite, horizontal, mass, vertical
Party-System Extremism	ideological, elite
Polarization Index	ideological, elite, mass
Range	ideological, elite
SD	ideological, elite, mass
Variance	ideological, elite

Use cases

Publications that address affective polarization:

Title	Authors
Challenges to established parties	Abedi (2002)
Party System Compactness	Alvarez and Nagler (2004)
The Activists Who Divide Us	Amitai (2023)
The Spatial Structure of Party Competition	Andrews and Money (2009)
Elite polarization, party extremity, and affective polarization	Banda and Cluverius (2018)
Camps, not just parties	Bantel (2023)
Elite polarisation and voting turnout in Latin America	Béjar et al. (2020)
Political polarisation and environmental attitudes	Birch (2020)
Cleavage politics, polarisation and participation in Western Europe	Borbáth et al. (2023)
Understanding Polarization	Bramson et al. (2017)
How do masses react to party polarization?	Çakir (2024)
Polarization and ideological congruence between parties and supporters in Europe	Caroll and Kubo (2018)
When polarised feelings towards parties spread to voters	Comellas Bonsfills (2022)
The impact of party polarisation and postmaterialism on voter turnout	Crepaz (1990)
Missing Links in Party-System Polarisation	Curini and Hino (2012)
The Quantity and the Quality of Party Systems	Dalton (2008)
Modeling ideological polarisation in democratic party systems	Dalton (2021)
Ideological Polarization and Far-Right Parties in Europe	Dalton and Berning (2022)
Party System Polarisation and Electoral Behavior	Dassonneville and Çakır (2021)
Party-System Extremism in Majoritarian and Proportional Electoral Systems	Dow (2011)
Affective polarization and strategic voting in Britain	Down and Han (2024)
Does voter polarisation induce party extremism?	Dreyer and Bauer (2019)
What Do We Measure When We Measure Affective Polarization?	Druckman and Levendusky (2019)
The Mobilizing Effect of Party System Polarization. Evidence From Europe	Ellger (2024)
The Variance Matters	Ezrow (2007)
Parties` Policy Programmes and the Dog that Didn’t Bark	Ezrow (2008)
American Affective Polarization in Comparative Perspective	Gidron et al. (2020)
Fragmented foes	Harteveld (2021)
Centre Parties	Hazan (1997)
The mobilising effect of political choice	Hobolt and Hoerner (2019)
Does Left/Right Structure Party Positions on European Integration?	Hooghe et al. (2002)
Does Austerity Cause Polarization?	Hübscher et al. (2023)
Politicizing Europe in the National Electoral Arena	Hutter and Grande (2014)
Multidimensional Party Polarization in Europe: Cross-Cutting Divides and Effective Dimensionality	Koedem, Binding and Steenbergen (2025)
Globalization and the transformation of the national political space	Kriesi et al. (2006)
Dimensions of polarization, realignment and electoral participation in Europe.	Le Corre Jurratic (2024)
What explains elite affective polarization?	Lucas and Sheffer (2025)
Party Polarisation and Mass Partisanship	Lupu (2015)
Reflections	Mair and Castles (1997)
Political Polarization and Cabinet Stability in Multiparty Systems	Maoz and Sommer-Topcu (2010)
Electoral Rule Disproportionality and Platform Polarisation	Matakos et al. (2016)
A Group-Based Approach to Measuring Polarization	Mehlhaff (2023)
On the relationship between party polarisation and citizen polarisation	Moral and Best (2023)
Election campaigns and the cyclical nature of emotions	Öhberg and Cassel (2023)
Does Populism Fuel Affective Polarization?	Pérez-Rajó (2024)
Polarization and correct voting in U.S. presidential elections	Pierce and Lau (2019)
Polarisation, identity and affect	Röllicke (2023)
Party-System Polarization and Individual Perceptions of Party Differences	Rossteutscher and Stövsand (2024)
Parties and party systems	Sartori (1976)
Left-Right Polarisation In National Party Systems	Sigelman and Yough (1978)
Economic Integration, Party Polarisation and Electoral Turnout	Steiner and Martin (2012)
Party Systems and Government Stability	Taylor and Herman (1971)
What Do We Measure When We Measure Affective Polarization across Countries?	Tichelbaecker et al. (2023)
Conflict or choice?	van Elsas and Fiselier (2023)
From political conflict to partisan evaluations	Vegetti (2014)
Affective polarisation in multiparty systems	Wagner (2021)
Elite Cooperation and Affective Polarization	Wagner and Harteveld (2024)
Meaningful choices, political supply, and institutional effectiveness	Wessels and Schmitt (2008)
Polarization, Number of Parties, and Voter Turnout	Wilford (2017)

Definitions of Polarization

Ideological Polarization

Affective Polarization