Negative campaigning and affective polarization

This chapter takes stock of recent literature on negative campaigning and the potential driving role it plays in fostering affective polarization. We first discuss the link between polarization and negative campaigning in general terms, and argues that the former can be a structural driver of the latter. We then examine whether exposing voters to political aggressiveness between elites can foster affective polarization in the public, present the few investigations that have tackled this question upfront and introduce novel empirical evidence from a series of experiments we have conducted in five countries across the world (Argentina, Australia, Germany, Italy, and the USA). Section four expands the scope of the chapter beyond negative campaigning, and discusses the role of political incivility as an additional potential driver of affective polarization. Section five, in turn, expands on potential consequences of negative campaigning beyond affective polarization, and focuses on whether the latter can drive support for political violence in the public. As we will discuss, this also seems likely.