Affective Polarization in European Party Competition

Since 1979 turnout in European elections has declined despite the empowerment of the European Parliament, while the ideological contest between pro- and anti-integrationist camps mobilized the voters in the 2019 European election. Compared to polarization of positions, which may help the voters to take a directional decision, the “My population First” campaigns of mainly Eurosceptic parties added an affective national identity-component to electoral party competition, which manifests in a shift from pluralist competition to outright hostility against the other camp. Some argue that the desire for self-rule on the part of those who conceive their national identity in conflict only counters the functional pressures from European integration, while others see at risk the process of European integration. In this study, we use survey experiments in 25 European countries to examine a new approach for the study of affective polarization, which combines a conjoint experiment with dictator and trust games from behavioral economics. We also assess our main findings along with evaluations of nationality and attributes of other traditional cleavages (social class and religion).