Conceptions of Democracy and Affective Polarization: Evidence from Political Social Distance in Europe

In this study, we examine affective polarization by focusing on political social distance as a key dimension of how citizens relate to political outgroups. Building on Emory Bogardus’ classical sociology of distance, we examine the (dis)comfort individuals feel toward supporters of the party they would never vote for in everyday social roles, such as friends, in-laws, coworkers, or neighbors. Using original survey data from eight European democracies, we show that social trust consistently mitigates distance, while ideological orientation influences this dimension of affective polarization asymmetrically, with left-leaning respondents expressing higher levels of distance than those on the right. Moreover, citizens who attach strong importance to democracy exhibit greater distance toward political outgroups, revealing a paradox we term democratic exclusivism, rooted in moralized, value-laden rather than procedural conceptions of democracy. These findings have important implications for the relational foundations of democratic quality and coexistence in contemporary Europe.