The seminar will be held in English.

The Hamburg Political Science Seminar Series (HPS³) features international speakers presenting cutting-edge research in all subfields of political science.

We welcome on

Wednesday, January 20, 2027 - 16:30-18:00 CET in Allende-Platz 1 (AP 1) Room 110

Hanna Bäck (Lund University)

Title: Elite Rhetoric and Mass Animosity. Affective Polarization in Multiparty Systems

Abstract:
This presentation discusses affective polarization, the identity-based “us versus them” conflict between political groups, as itappears in European multiparty systems. The concept was first developed in the American two-party context, where the relevant group boundaries coincide with partisanship, while in multiparty settings those boundaries often run between ideological blocs or broader societal divides instead. Drawing on intergroup threat theory, experimental work is presented on how threatening elite communication shapes affective polarization among voters, and on the role of emotional reactions such as anger and fear. Political representatives are affected by how their opponents communicate, and our recent experimental work suggests that hostility tends to breed hostility among elites themselves. Ongoing work using large language models to detect in-group andout-group sentiment in parliamentary debates is also presented, which makes it possible to trace when and why representatives publicly invoke group boundaries without assuming that those boundaries follow party lines. A recurring theme is how elite rhetoric and mass animosity may reinforce one another in multiparty democracies.

Keywords: affective polarization; multiparty systems; elite communication; political group identities; intergroup threat; parliamentary debates.

The HPS³ seminars take place in person at the UHH. Please find the preliminary program (pdf) on the HPS³ Website.

We invite everyone interested to attend the HPS Seminar Series and are looking forward to seeing you. 

No prior registration is needed.