Political Studies Review

Affective polarization, or dislike and distrust between partisans, is thought to stimulate engagement but harm political trust and commitment to democratic norms. However, recent experimental work has cast doubt on these findings. In this paper, we use longitudinal models test competing possibilities as to why manipulating affective polarization lacks effects on democratic outcomes: that the effect exists but experiments poorly capture it, reverse causation, and spurious effects.

Political psychology Research Seminar Most of the literature on mental health and political behaviour focuses on how people with mental health problems engage in politics. In this paper we want to understand how politics can act as a stress factor for mental health.

Political psychology seminar: “Where's my parade?” Adulthood, excitement and the anti-climax of the first-time vote across six countries

EPOP’s 2025 annual conference will be hosted by the Department of Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy and Anthropology at the University of Exeter on 4-6 September. The call for papers is now live and accessible through this link, with the deadline for applications being Wednesday 30th April. Further information can be found on the conference website. If you have any questions please get in touch using elections@exeter.ac.uk Location: University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4PU, UK

In the digital age, political engagement is increasingly expressed through images on social media. Citizens use visuals to convey attitudes, i.e. emotions (affect) and opinions (judgement), often blending the two in ways that shape public discourse. Affect and judgement are deeply interwoven, and their expression relies on a broad range of multimodal devices, cues, and discourse patterns that are not always easy to distinguish.

Begum Zorlu City St George's, University of London The conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state, one of the longest-running insurgencies in the Middle East. Last week, Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the PKK, has called for the group's dissolution, asserting that its mission is now obsolete. Is a new door to peace being opened?

We are pleased to announce the shortlisted books for the Mackenzie Book Prize 2024/25. A huge thank you to all those who nominated a book for this esteemed prize that celebrates the distinctive contributions these works have made to advancing Political Studies. From an impressive 16 entries, our brilliant judging panel* has honed this down to a shortlist of five outstanding works. * Details about the judging panel will be confirmed and updated soon.

Matthias Dilling & Hartwig Pautz Germany has voted, and the results call for some serious soul searching among the country’s mainstream political parties. For the first time in the country’s post-World War II history, a far-right party has become the second largest party in a general election.

In collaboration with the University of Surrey and the Centre for Britain and Europe (CBE), the Italian Politics Specialist Group, German Politics Specialist Group, and Greek Politics Specialist Group of the UK’s Political Studies Association (PSA) are holding a two-day, in-person conference on the topic “Challenges to Europe – European Challenges”. The conference will be hosted by the CBE at the University of Surrey on 28 and 29 May 2025. It is open to all and there is no registration fee.

A new British Academy report on Politics and International Relations (PIR) provision in UK higher education shows a 20 per cent increase in first degree enrolments and a 41 per cent rise in postgraduate taught enrolments between 2011/12 and 2022/23, with PIR graduates earning a median salary up to £9000 more than the average graduate ten years after leaving university.