Emotions, Moral Conflict, and the Politics of Affective Polarization

Abstract

Emotions have become a defining feature of contemporary political life. Political disagreement is increasingly experienced not only through ideological or policy differences, but through feelings of anger, resentment, indignation, enthusiasm, and moral outrage that shape how citizens interpret events, evaluate opponents, and engage with public discourse. This panel approaches polarization through the lens of emotional dynamics, asking how emotions transform political competition into lived social experience and how they contribute to both democratic engagement and democratic strain.

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