Polarisation and populism
Emphasizing the conflict between populist and anti-populist parties is leading to further polarization of Czech society. The vision of reality is becoming essentially black and white. The very emphasis on the struggle for democracy and on the style of politics has transformed the long-term logic of political competition in the Czech Republic in recent years. This is evident from a study by Alena Kluknavská and Vlastimil Havlík from the National Institute SYRI, published in the journal Politische Vierteljahresschrift.
In their study, the researchers focused on parties that define themselves in their rhetoric against populism on the domestic scene. „These parties, although they mainly talk about democracy, actually deepen the conflicts on the political scene and polarise it even more, because they basically work on the principle of 'us' or 'them'. They present anti-populism as depolarising, based on politeness, calmness and knowledge, while populism is portrayed as polarising and using emotional and irrational language," said Alena Kluknavská from the National Institute of SYRI and Masaryk University.
Read more: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11615-024-00580-9