The Role of Electoral Integrity and Winning-Losing in Magnifying Mass Affective Polarization: Evidence from Consolidated and Unconsolidated Democracies

This study examines how electoral integrity affects mass affective polarization across 58 elections in 38 countries between 2012 and 2020. Using citizens’ evaluations of parties on a like-dislike scale from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) and electoral integrity scores from the Perceptions of Electoral Integrity (PEI) data (Garnett et al., 2022), I show that lower levels of electoral integrity have a negative impact on affective attitudes toward parties, i.e., magnifying mass affective polarization. I also find that winning-losing status (voting for the winning party in the last election) increases mass affective polarization. Moreover, while low degrees of electoral integrity enhance affective polarization, this relationship is stronger for those who voted for the losing party. These findings have significant implications for research on mass polarization, democratic legitimacy, and the winner-loser gap.