Citizen Voices Reshaping Politics
How Public Trust Shapes Party Polarization
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7168254 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Solbi Kim (0009-0005-3744-7468, Department of International Affairs University of Georgia, Athens Georgia USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 107 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Science Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-4941 • E-ISSN: 1540-6237 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ssqu.70124 |
| OpenAlex | W7125382682 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 42 |
Objectives Political polarization has intensified across democracies, shaping increasingly extreme political landscapes and posing significant challenges to effective governance. Despite extensive research on polarization, the fundamental determinants of party polarization remain contested. This study investigates public opinion, specifically political trust, as a critical yet underexplored factor influencing party polarization, offering a fresh perspective on its impact in diverse democratic contexts. Methods This study employs a linear regression model using the integrated datasets from 1971 to 2016, from the AmericasBarometer, American National Election Studies (ANES), Eurobarometer, World Value Survey (WVS) Wave 5, and the Varieties of Democracy (V‐Dem) project's V‐Party database. Results Contrary to conventional arguments, ideological polarization does not display a significant association with party polarization in the general model and shows mixed effects across specific policy domains. At the same time, it has a positive influence on party divergence in presidential systems. In contrast, trust polarization emerges as a significant and consistent force driving party polarization. Conclusion These findings challenge traditional frameworks prioritizing ideological alignment as the primary driver of party polarization, reframing the discussion to emphasize trust polarization as a central determinant. By offering new insights into the interplay between public trust in government and party behavior, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of party polarization and provides implications for democratic stability
Cognitive reframing · Democracy · Ideology · Polarization (electrochemistry) · Politics · Politics of the United States · Presidential system · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Politics and Society in Latin America · Social Media and Politics
Why Washington Won't Work
Elections, Parties, Democracy
Income and Democracy
Party system ideological polarization in Western Europe
Trust Matters
An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy
Does High Income Promote Democracy
Missing Links in Party-System Polarization
Party Responsiveness to Public Opinion in Young Democracies
Mean voter representation and partisan constituency representation
Centrifugal Incentives in Multi-Candidate Elections
The Advantages of Ideological Cohesion
Institutional design and polarization. Do consensus democracies fare better in fighting polarization than majoritarian democracies
The Quantity and the Quality of Party Systems
What Moves Parties
What Are the Origins of Political Trust
Economic Development and Democracy
Political Trust and Trustworthiness
Centripetal and Centrifugal Incentives in Electoral Systems
From on High
Understanding Change and Stability in Party Ideologies
Party-System Extremism in Majoritarian and Proportional Electoral Systems
Parties' Policy Programmes and the Dog that Didn't Bark
The Spatial Structure of Party Competition
The Political Economy of Populism
Elite polarization, party extremity, and affective polarization
Economic Insecurity and the Causes of Populism, Reconsidered
Who Leads? Who Follows? Measuring Issue Attention and Agenda Setting by Legislators and the Mass Public Using Social Media Data
Polarizing Figures
Dynamic Representation
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |