Affektiv polarisering och de viktigaste frågorna i svensk politik: En studie av affektiv polarisering i Sverige

Sammanfattning

This study examines the development of affective polarization in Sweden and whether it can be attributed to the political debate changing its focus to new issues. The study builds on data from the SOM-undersökning and focuses on the last twenty years. In the study, I argue that changes in what the electorate perceives to be the most important type of political issue have a causal effect on affective polarization. The study yields mixed results, as on an individual level the connection between whether you think economic or cultural issues are more important and your affective polarization has a relatively weak correlation. However, when looking at the system level, we can see that changes in the general opinion on the most important issues have a stronger correlation to affective polarization than other potential variables such as ideological polarization and partisan identity. I conclude that there is reason to believe that changes in the focus of the political debate to at least some degree can be contributed to the changes in affective polarization over the last twenty years.