Roderik Rekker
Biographic Data
| ID | 1534442 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Roderik Rekker |
| GIVEN NAMES | Roderik |
| FAMILY NAME | Rekker |
| SIGNATURE | REKKER R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Amsterdam |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6331-2878 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 216 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
A four-level model of political polarization over science
Citizens’ trust in science increasingly depends on their political leaning. Structural equation models on survey data from 10 European countries ( N = 5306) demonstrate that this science polarization can be captured by a model with four levels of generalization. Voters of populist parties distrust the system and elite in general, which indirectly fuels a broad science skepticism. At another level, right-wingers have less trust in science as a who…
How populist parties fuel science skepticism
Populist parties are characterized by a discourse that pits ordinary citizens against a corrupt elite. This rhetoric increasingly targets not only politicians but also scientists and scientific knowledge. Because citizens often use party cues to form their own opinions, this raises the question to what extent populist parties fuel science skepticism among their supporters. This study examines this question by analyzing 15 annual waves of represen…
Factual belief polarization between Democrats and Republicans
Democrats and Republicans have polarized in their attitudes (i.e., ideological polarization) and their feelings toward each other (i.e., affective polarization). Simultaneously, both groups also seem to diverge in their factual beliefs about reality. This preregistered survey experiment among 2,253 American citizens examined how this factual belief polarization may or may not fuel ideological and affective polarization around four key issues: inc…
Electoral change through generational replacement
People’s generation may have become one of the core predictors of their vote choice. This study examines this hypothesis across 21 Western established democracies between 1948 and 2021. An age-period-cohort analysis on 258 national election surveys ( N = 462.084) reveals that the most recent generations are much less likely to vote for the major right-wing party in two-party systems. In multi-party systems, the gradual decline of Christian democr…
Understanding factual belief polarization
Political opponents are often divided not only in their attitudes (i.e., ideological polarization) and their feelings toward each other (i.e., affective polarization), but also in their factual perceptions of reality (i.e., factual belief polarization). This paper describes factual belief polarization in the Netherlands around three core issues. Furthermore, this paper examines who are most susceptible to this type of polarization. Analyses on th…
Generational (re)alignment
Voting behaviour in Western Europe has become increasingly structured by attitudes towards socio-cultural issues, such as immigration and European unification. This study examines whether generational differences affect this form of realignment. By combining data from the ESS and the CHES, it explores party–voter alignment on specific issues across 17 West European party systems from 2002 to 2020. ‘Age-Period-Cohort’ (APC) analyses demonstrate th…
Growing Up in a Polarized Party System
American political elites have increasingly polarized over the past decades, which has inspired much research into mass polarization. We study whether there is a generational component to mass polarization by disentangling period, age, and cohort differences while distinguishing two forms of mass polarization: partisan sorting and ideological divergence. Drawing from General Social Survey and American National Election Studies data, we find that …
Generations and the changing character of support for European unification in the Netherlands
This study examines whether younger generations are more likely to associate their support for European unification with cultural, rather than economic issues. The EU has changed from an ‘economic community’ to a ‘political union.’ Because most citizens form relatively stable orientations during their ‘impressionable years,’ we expect recent generations to be more likely to view European unification through a cultural lens. An analysis of 12 wave…
Generational replacement and Green party support in Western Europe
Over the past decades, electoral support for Green parties has gradually increased in Western Europe, especially among young people. This begs the question whether there are systematic differences between generations in support for Green parties, and whether there are also life-cycle effects. We answer this question by separating age, period and cohort effects on Green party support using CSES data covering 40 elections in 11 Western European cou…
A Little More Conversation A Little Less Prejudice
Although previous research has shown that deliberative discussions have consequences for intergroup attitudes, very little is known about this impact during the formative adolescent years. In addition, the mechanism explaining the mechanism through which discussions affect intergroup attitudes is not clear. This 3-wave study of Swedish adolescents (N = 892, 51.1% girls, MageT1 = 13.41, nested in 35 classrooms) examined the role of teacher-initiat…
Hate Speech Prosecution of Politicians and its Effect on Support for the Legal System and Democracy
This study examined if and for whom prosecution of politicians for hate speech undermines support for the legal system and democracy. Three research designs were combined to investigate the case of Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who was convicted for hate speech against minorities in 2016. First, an experiment showed that observing a guilty verdict decreased support among ‘assimilationists’ who oppose the multicultural society. This deterioratio…
Young trendsetters
Sociological theory posits that social change occurs first and foremost among young people, who set trends that may eventually carry over to older citizens. This study examined to what extent this proposition applies to electoral shifts by comparing parties’ electoral gains among young (age 24) in 21 Western established democracies between 1948 and 2019. An analysis of 219 national election surveys revealed that winning parties typically gained d…
The nature and origins of political polarization over science
People have a tendency to disregard information that contradicts their partisan or ideological identity. This inclination can become especially striking when citizens reject notions that scientists would consider “facts” in the light of overwhelming scientific evidence and consensus. The resulting polarization over science has reached alarming levels in recent years. This theoretical review conceptualizes political polarization over science and a…
Socialised to think in terms of left and right? The acceptability of the left and the right among European voters
Dealignment, realignment and generational differences in The Netherlands
A central question in Western European electoral research is whether electoral changes over the past decades should be interpreted in terms of dealignment or realignment. Although many scholars study this question, they have not paid much attention to the role of generational replacement. This ‘age-period-cohort’ (APC) study fills this void by examining the last 10 national elections in the Netherlands (1986–2017). The hypothesis is tested that t…
Are would-be authoritarians right? Democratic support and citizens’ left-right self-placement in former left- and right- authoritarian countries
Conventional wisdom dictates that the more citizens lean towards either end of the ideological spectrum, the lower their support for democracy. The main model pitted against this “rigidity-of-the-extremes model” is the “rigidity-of-the-right model”. This model assumes that rightist citizens are less supportive. This study proposes and empirically demonstrates the validity of an alternative model, which we call “the authoritarian legacy model”. Th…
After All This Time? The Impact of Media and Authoritarian History on Political News Coverage in Twelve Western Countries
Historical classifications of journalistic traditions are the backbone of comparative explanations for political news coverage. This study assesses the validity of the dominant media systems framework and proposes and tests a novel framework, which states that a history of authoritarianism affects today’s coverage. To facilitate a clean cross-national comparison, we focus on the same person and measurement in 12 Western democracies, that is, the …
How (often) do voters change their consideration sets
Growing Up in a Globalized Society
This study examined why young Europeans are typically more positive about the European Union (EU). Analyses on Eurobarometer data (N = 1,500,058) revealed that older people are about twice as likely to oppose EU membership. This age difference was observed universally for all periods between 1973 and 2015, and for nearly all 28 countries. Generational patterns played a much larger role than life-cycle effects: People were more positive about Euro…
The Formation of Party Preference in Adolescence and Early Adulthood
This cohort-sequential panel study on Dutch youths ( N = 3394) and their parents examined the formation of party preference between age 12 and 25. Specifically, it aimed to pinpoint the most formative component and age in a multiparty context. Opinionation, stability and correlates were examined for three components of party preference: party identification, voting intention and left-right identification. Results revealed that most youths formed …
The dynamics of political identity and issue attitudes in adolescence and early adulthood
The lasting impact of adolescence on left-right identification
Political attitudes in adolescence and emerging adulthood
This three‐wave cohort‐sequential longitudinal study ( N = 1302) examined the development of two core political attitudes, economic egalitarianism and ethnocentrism, among Dutch youths between age 12 and 31. Longitudinal regression analyses revealed a curvilinear mean level development for both attitudes, reflecting an increased disagreement with economic redistribution and multiculturalism around late adolescence. Furthermore, attitudes became d…
Dealignment, realignment and generational differences in The Netherlands
A central question in Western European electoral research is whether electoral changes over the past decades should be interpreted in terms of dealignment or realignment. Although many scholars study this question, they have not paid much attention to the role of generational replacement. This ‘age-period-cohort’ (APC) study fills this void by examining the last 10 national elections in the Netherlands (1986–2017). The hypothesis is tested that t…
The Formation of Party Preference in Adolescence and Early Adulthood
This cohort-sequential panel study on Dutch youths ( N = 3394) and their parents examined the formation of party preference between age 12 and 25. Specifically, it aimed to pinpoint the most formative component and age in a multiparty context. Opinionation, stability and correlates were examined for three components of party preference: party identification, voting intention and left-right identification. Results revealed that most youths formed …
The lasting impact of adolescence on left-right identification
Young trendsetters
Sociological theory posits that social change occurs first and foremost among young people, who set trends that may eventually carry over to older citizens. This study examined to what extent this proposition applies to electoral shifts by comparing parties’ electoral gains among young (age 24) in 21 Western established democracies between 1948 and 2019. An analysis of 219 national election surveys revealed that winning parties typically gained d…
Growing Up in a Globalized Society
This study examined why young Europeans are typically more positive about the European Union (EU). Analyses on Eurobarometer data (N = 1,500,058) revealed that older people are about twice as likely to oppose EU membership. This age difference was observed universally for all periods between 1973 and 2015, and for nearly all 28 countries. Generational patterns played a much larger role than life-cycle effects: People were more positive about Euro…
The dynamics of political identity and issue attitudes in adolescence and early adulthood
How (often) do voters change their consideration sets
Are would-be authoritarians right? Democratic support and citizens’ left-right self-placement in former left- and right- authoritarian countries
Conventional wisdom dictates that the more citizens lean towards either end of the ideological spectrum, the lower their support for democracy. The main model pitted against this “rigidity-of-the-extremes model” is the “rigidity-of-the-right model”. This model assumes that rightist citizens are less supportive. This study proposes and empirically demonstrates the validity of an alternative model, which we call “the authoritarian legacy model”. Th…
Understanding factual belief polarization
Political opponents are often divided not only in their attitudes (i.e., ideological polarization) and their feelings toward each other (i.e., affective polarization), but also in their factual perceptions of reality (i.e., factual belief polarization). This paper describes factual belief polarization in the Netherlands around three core issues. Furthermore, this paper examines who are most susceptible to this type of polarization. Analyses on th…
Generational (re)alignment
Voting behaviour in Western Europe has become increasingly structured by attitudes towards socio-cultural issues, such as immigration and European unification. This study examines whether generational differences affect this form of realignment. By combining data from the ESS and the CHES, it explores party–voter alignment on specific issues across 17 West European party systems from 2002 to 2020. ‘Age-Period-Cohort’ (APC) analyses demonstrate th…
Socialised to think in terms of left and right? The acceptability of the left and the right among European voters
Generational replacement and Green party support in Western Europe
Over the past decades, electoral support for Green parties has gradually increased in Western Europe, especially among young people. This begs the question whether there are systematic differences between generations in support for Green parties, and whether there are also life-cycle effects. We answer this question by separating age, period and cohort effects on Green party support using CSES data covering 40 elections in 11 Western European cou…
A Little More Conversation A Little Less Prejudice
Although previous research has shown that deliberative discussions have consequences for intergroup attitudes, very little is known about this impact during the formative adolescent years. In addition, the mechanism explaining the mechanism through which discussions affect intergroup attitudes is not clear. This 3-wave study of Swedish adolescents (N = 892, 51.1% girls, MageT1 = 13.41, nested in 35 classrooms) examined the role of teacher-initiat…
Growing Up in a Polarized Party System
American political elites have increasingly polarized over the past decades, which has inspired much research into mass polarization. We study whether there is a generational component to mass polarization by disentangling period, age, and cohort differences while distinguishing two forms of mass polarization: partisan sorting and ideological divergence. Drawing from General Social Survey and American National Election Studies data, we find that …
Hate Speech Prosecution of Politicians and its Effect on Support for the Legal System and Democracy
This study examined if and for whom prosecution of politicians for hate speech undermines support for the legal system and democracy. Three research designs were combined to investigate the case of Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who was convicted for hate speech against minorities in 2016. First, an experiment showed that observing a guilty verdict decreased support among ‘assimilationists’ who oppose the multicultural society. This deterioratio…
Electoral change through generational replacement
People’s generation may have become one of the core predictors of their vote choice. This study examines this hypothesis across 21 Western established democracies between 1948 and 2021. An age-period-cohort analysis on 258 national election surveys ( N = 462.084) reveals that the most recent generations are much less likely to vote for the major right-wing party in two-party systems. In multi-party systems, the gradual decline of Christian democr…
Generations and the changing character of support for European unification in the Netherlands
This study examines whether younger generations are more likely to associate their support for European unification with cultural, rather than economic issues. The EU has changed from an ‘economic community’ to a ‘political union.’ Because most citizens form relatively stable orientations during their ‘impressionable years,’ we expect recent generations to be more likely to view European unification through a cultural lens. An analysis of 12 wave…
How populist parties fuel science skepticism
Populist parties are characterized by a discourse that pits ordinary citizens against a corrupt elite. This rhetoric increasingly targets not only politicians but also scientists and scientific knowledge. Because citizens often use party cues to form their own opinions, this raises the question to what extent populist parties fuel science skepticism among their supporters. This study examines this question by analyzing 15 annual waves of represen…
Political attitudes in adolescence and emerging adulthood
This three‐wave cohort‐sequential longitudinal study ( N = 1302) examined the development of two core political attitudes, economic egalitarianism and ethnocentrism, among Dutch youths between age 12 and 31. Longitudinal regression analyses revealed a curvilinear mean level development for both attitudes, reflecting an increased disagreement with economic redistribution and multiculturalism around late adolescence. Furthermore, attitudes became d…
The lasting impact of adolescence on left-right identification
The dynamics of political identity and issue attitudes in adolescence and early adulthood
Growing Up in a Globalized Society
This study examined why young Europeans are typically more positive about the European Union (EU). Analyses on Eurobarometer data (N = 1,500,058) revealed that older people are about twice as likely to oppose EU membership. This age difference was observed universally for all periods between 1973 and 2015, and for nearly all 28 countries. Generational patterns played a much larger role than life-cycle effects: People were more positive about Euro…
The Formation of Party Preference in Adolescence and Early Adulthood
This cohort-sequential panel study on Dutch youths ( N = 3394) and their parents examined the formation of party preference between age 12 and 25. Specifically, it aimed to pinpoint the most formative component and age in a multiparty context. Opinionation, stability and correlates were examined for three components of party preference: party identification, voting intention and left-right identification. Results revealed that most youths formed …
How (often) do voters change their consideration sets
After All This Time? The Impact of Media and Authoritarian History on Political News Coverage in Twelve Western Countries
Historical classifications of journalistic traditions are the backbone of comparative explanations for political news coverage. This study assesses the validity of the dominant media systems framework and proposes and tests a novel framework, which states that a history of authoritarianism affects today’s coverage. To facilitate a clean cross-national comparison, we focus on the same person and measurement in 12 Western democracies, that is, the …
The nature and origins of political polarization over science
People have a tendency to disregard information that contradicts their partisan or ideological identity. This inclination can become especially striking when citizens reject notions that scientists would consider “facts” in the light of overwhelming scientific evidence and consensus. The resulting polarization over science has reached alarming levels in recent years. This theoretical review conceptualizes political polarization over science and a…
Socialised to think in terms of left and right? The acceptability of the left and the right among European voters
Dealignment, realignment and generational differences in The Netherlands
A central question in Western European electoral research is whether electoral changes over the past decades should be interpreted in terms of dealignment or realignment. Although many scholars study this question, they have not paid much attention to the role of generational replacement. This ‘age-period-cohort’ (APC) study fills this void by examining the last 10 national elections in the Netherlands (1986–2017). The hypothesis is tested that t…
Are would-be authoritarians right? Democratic support and citizens’ left-right self-placement in former left- and right- authoritarian countries
Conventional wisdom dictates that the more citizens lean towards either end of the ideological spectrum, the lower their support for democracy. The main model pitted against this “rigidity-of-the-extremes model” is the “rigidity-of-the-right model”. This model assumes that rightist citizens are less supportive. This study proposes and empirically demonstrates the validity of an alternative model, which we call “the authoritarian legacy model”. Th…
A Little More Conversation A Little Less Prejudice
Although previous research has shown that deliberative discussions have consequences for intergroup attitudes, very little is known about this impact during the formative adolescent years. In addition, the mechanism explaining the mechanism through which discussions affect intergroup attitudes is not clear. This 3-wave study of Swedish adolescents (N = 892, 51.1% girls, MageT1 = 13.41, nested in 35 classrooms) examined the role of teacher-initiat…
Hate Speech Prosecution of Politicians and its Effect on Support for the Legal System and Democracy
This study examined if and for whom prosecution of politicians for hate speech undermines support for the legal system and democracy. Three research designs were combined to investigate the case of Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who was convicted for hate speech against minorities in 2016. First, an experiment showed that observing a guilty verdict decreased support among ‘assimilationists’ who oppose the multicultural society. This deterioratio…
Young trendsetters
Sociological theory posits that social change occurs first and foremost among young people, who set trends that may eventually carry over to older citizens. This study examined to what extent this proposition applies to electoral shifts by comparing parties’ electoral gains among young (age 24) in 21 Western established democracies between 1948 and 2019. An analysis of 219 national election surveys revealed that winning parties typically gained d…
Generations and the changing character of support for European unification in the Netherlands
This study examines whether younger generations are more likely to associate their support for European unification with cultural, rather than economic issues. The EU has changed from an ‘economic community’ to a ‘political union.’ Because most citizens form relatively stable orientations during their ‘impressionable years,’ we expect recent generations to be more likely to view European unification through a cultural lens. An analysis of 12 wave…
Generational replacement and Green party support in Western Europe
Over the past decades, electoral support for Green parties has gradually increased in Western Europe, especially among young people. This begs the question whether there are systematic differences between generations in support for Green parties, and whether there are also life-cycle effects. We answer this question by separating age, period and cohort effects on Green party support using CSES data covering 40 elections in 11 Western European cou…
Factual belief polarization between Democrats and Republicans
Democrats and Republicans have polarized in their attitudes (i.e., ideological polarization) and their feelings toward each other (i.e., affective polarization). Simultaneously, both groups also seem to diverge in their factual beliefs about reality. This preregistered survey experiment among 2,253 American citizens examined how this factual belief polarization may or may not fuel ideological and affective polarization around four key issues: inc…
Electoral change through generational replacement
People’s generation may have become one of the core predictors of their vote choice. This study examines this hypothesis across 21 Western established democracies between 1948 and 2021. An age-period-cohort analysis on 258 national election surveys ( N = 462.084) reveals that the most recent generations are much less likely to vote for the major right-wing party in two-party systems. In multi-party systems, the gradual decline of Christian democr…
Understanding factual belief polarization
Political opponents are often divided not only in their attitudes (i.e., ideological polarization) and their feelings toward each other (i.e., affective polarization), but also in their factual perceptions of reality (i.e., factual belief polarization). This paper describes factual belief polarization in the Netherlands around three core issues. Furthermore, this paper examines who are most susceptible to this type of polarization. Analyses on th…
Generational (re)alignment
Voting behaviour in Western Europe has become increasingly structured by attitudes towards socio-cultural issues, such as immigration and European unification. This study examines whether generational differences affect this form of realignment. By combining data from the ESS and the CHES, it explores party–voter alignment on specific issues across 17 West European party systems from 2002 to 2020. ‘Age-Period-Cohort’ (APC) analyses demonstrate th…
Growing Up in a Polarized Party System
American political elites have increasingly polarized over the past decades, which has inspired much research into mass polarization. We study whether there is a generational component to mass polarization by disentangling period, age, and cohort differences while distinguishing two forms of mass polarization: partisan sorting and ideological divergence. Drawing from General Social Survey and American National Election Studies data, we find that …
A four-level model of political polarization over science
Citizens’ trust in science increasingly depends on their political leaning. Structural equation models on survey data from 10 European countries ( N = 5306) demonstrate that this science polarization can be captured by a model with four levels of generalization. Voters of populist parties distrust the system and elite in general, which indirectly fuels a broad science skepticism. At another level, right-wingers have less trust in science as a who…
How populist parties fuel science skepticism
Populist parties are characterized by a discourse that pits ordinary citizens against a corrupt elite. This rhetoric increasingly targets not only politicians but also scientists and scientific knowledge. Because citizens often use party cues to form their own opinions, this raises the question to what extent populist parties fuel science skepticism among their supporters. This study examines this question by analyzing 15 annual waves of represen…
Political science (22 works) · Politics (18 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (16 works) · Law (16 works) · Economics (14 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Law (12 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Political economy (10 works) · Populism, Right-Wing Movements (10 works)