K262, CGIS Knafel Building, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
“The Vicious Cycle of Affective Polarization andNegative Styles of Representation”
Please join us for the CAPS Seminar with Mia Costa, Assistant Professor of Government, Dartmouth College and Visiting Scholar at Harvard (2021-22). This event will be held in person, and is open to all Harvard affiliates. Light refreshments will be provided following the talk.
Abstract: In the current era of heightened affective polarization, elites use identity to draw on outgroups –constituents’ negational or negative identities– rather than ingroups. I explore several possibilities regarding why elites engage in a negative representational style in the context of partisanship. Elites, accurately perceiving mass preferences, do not generally think that negative partisan rhetoric is a viable electoral strategy to win voters’ support. I demonstrate that elite-driven negative partisanship is instead part of the vicious cycle of affective polarization. Politicians perceive increased negativity both at the elite and mass levels: they report that campaigns have become more negative over time and are also themselves more affectively polarized than the mass public. At the same time, elites think that negative partisan rhetoric does not necessarily lose elections when both candidates use it. In campaigns that are characterized by negativity, attacking the outparty is viewed as fair game. Finally, I find that congressional tweets that contain outparty appeals garner significantly more attention than tweets that contain no partisan appeals or inparty appeals. Ultimately, even though Americans do not favor elite expressions of partisan animosity, the broader context of affective polarization makes the use of negative representational styles all too common.
The CAPS Seminar is a monthly series highlighting research by CAPS affiliates and fostering discussion among members of our community.