Affective polarization has become a vital concept in political science and beyond. Scholars from multiple disciplines examine the origins and consequences of polarization, not just in the United States, but in almost every democratic nation. It is thus particularly important to provide an overview of existing research that can serve as a platform for future research avenues. The current entry sets out to do exactly that. We start by providing a brief introduction to affective polarization and its conceptual nuances, followed by a short description and critique of select instruments to measure polarization. Last, we focus on the media as a source of polarization and conclude the entry with an outline of polarization’s consequences for political behavior.
Bankert, A., & Lamberth, T. (2025). Affective polarization. In Elgar Encyclopedia of Political Communication (pp. 11-14). Edward Elgar Publishing.
