ETH Workshop

Measuring, Modeling and Mitigating Opinion Polarization and Political Cleavage (MMM)

ETH Zurich, ML E12

September 13–15, 2023 Wednesday–Friday

Venue

ETH Zurich, Lecture Hall ML E12
ML Building, Tannenstrasse 3, 8006 Zürich
Link to map

Synopsis

Political polarization and radicalization is more and more seen as a major threat for democratic countries, with alarming consequences. Therefore, research on this topic has vastly increased in different scientific disciplines. But the scientific discourse lacks an integrative perspective on polarization, merging methods and insights from different disciplines. Even more, we miss the exchange between formal modelers, political scientists and sociologists which only would allow to develop such a common perspective. Our workshop shall fill this gap, bringing together an interdisciplinary group of top scientists, to foster awareness, acceptance, and adoption of insights from the respective disciplines.

Contributions revolve around three interlinked topics:

1) Public opinion and opinion dynamics
- Polarization: ideology vs. issue stances
- Opinion dynamics: Mechanisms behind polarization dynamics
- Measuring Polarization: Moving beyond single dimensions
2) Elite polarization
- Measuring latent concepts: mapping ideology in a political space
- Political gridlock: Studying collaboration dynamics in polarized systems
- In-group vs. out-group: Studying group division strategies
3) Mitigation and mechanism design
- Opinion formation and change: Mechanism design and mitigation strategies
- Populism as a dividing mechanism

Download workshop program with abstracts (PDF, 11 pages)

Organisation

The workshop receives financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF Grant No: IZSEZ0_220344) and from the Chair of Systems Design (ETH Zurich).

Program

Wednesday, September 13

Frank Schweitzer

Welcome and Introductory Remarks

Chair of Systems Design, ETH Zurich

See Abstract

September 13, 2023 | 09:30–09:50

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Introduction of Participants

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September 13, 2023 | 09:50–10:30

☕️ Coffee Break 🥐

10:30–11:00

Session

Polarization as a Threat to Democracy?

Philip Leifeld (Chair/Discussant)
University of Essex, UK

September 13
11:00 – 12:30

Markus Wagner

Do left-wing governments fuel far-right success?

Department of Government, University of Vienna

See Abstract

September 13, 2023 | 11:00–11:25

Katarzyna Sznajd-Weron

Depolarizing effect of strategic anticonformity – insights from the three-state 𝑞-voter model with bounded confidence

Department of Management Systems, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology

See Abstract

September 13, 2023 | 11:45–12:10

Lunch Break

12:30–14:00

Session

Mechanisms Behind Polarization Dynamics

Rainer Hegselmann (Chair/Discussant)
Frankfurt School of Finance & Management

September 13
14:00 – 15:30

Janusz Holyst

Why can’t we go back to paradise?

Faculty of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology

See Abstract

September 13, 2023 | 14:00–14:25

Jan Lorenz

How assimilative and idiosyncratic attitude change generate oscillations of public policy mood

Constructor University Bremen

See Abstract

September 13, 2023 | 14:45–15:10

☕️ Coffee Break 🥐

15:30–16:00

Session

Mitigating (Online) Polarization

Sophia Schlosser (Chair/Discussant)
Chair of Systems Design, ETH Zurich

September 13
16:00 – 17:30

David Garcia

Unpacking polarization: Antagonism and Alignment in Signed Networks of Online Interaction

Computational Social Science Lab, University of Konstanz

See Abstract

September 13, 2023 | 16:00–16:25

Gerardo Iniguez

Algorithmic bias and multidimensional political polarisation in online social networks

Department of Network and Data Science, Central European University Vienna

See Abstract

September 13, 2023 | 16:45–17:10

Thursday, September 14

Session

Belief Heterogeneity

Marco Steenbergen (Chair/Discussant)
Department of Political Science, University of Zürich

September 14
09:00 – 10:30

Philip Leifeld

Tracing the Sources of Belief Contestation in Policy Debates

Department of Government, University of Essex

See Abstract

September 14, 2023 | 09:00–09:25

Eckehard Olbrich

Do we need more than one dimension to understand polarization?

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig

See Abstract

September 14, 2023 | 09:45–10:10

☕️ Coffee Break 🥐

10:30–11:00

Session

Changing Opinions

Georges Andres (Chair/Discussant)
Chair of Systems Design, ETH Zurich

September 14
11:00 – 12:30

Ali Faqeeh

Political polarization: Persistent hatred or issue-dependent sidings?

Department of Computer Science, Aalto University

See Abstract

September 14, 2023 | 11:00–11:25

Tanzhe Tang

An Empirical and Simulation Investigation of Bounded Confidence and Negative Influence in Opinion Dynamics using Stochastic Actor-Oriented Model

Department of Sociology, University of Groningen

See Abstract

September 14, 2023 | 11:45–12:10

Lunch Break

12:30–14:00

Session

Measuring Polarization: Moving Beyond Single Dimensions

Gerardo Iniguez (Chair/Discussant)
Department of Network and Data Science, Central European University Vienna

September 14
14:00 – 15:30

Marco Steenbergen/ Jelle Koedam

Multidimensional party polarization in Europe: Cross-cutting divides and effective dimensionality

Department of Political Science, University of Zürich

See Abstract

September 14, 2023 | 14:00–14:25

Sophia Schlosser

A Textual Time Capsule: A Text-Based Approach to Tracing Swiss Elite Polarization Across 130 Years

Chair of Systems Design, ETH Zurich

See Abstract

September 14, 2023 | 14:45–15:10

☕️ Coffee Break 🥐

15:30–16:00

Session

Inferring Opinions and Reconstructing Relations

Katarzyna Sznajd-Weron (Chair/Discussant)
Wroclaw University of Science and Technology

September 14
16:00 – 17:30

Rosa Benito

Polarization Metrics and Opinions Inference in Multipolar Systems

Universidad Politecnica de Madrid

See Abstract

September 14, 2023 | 16:00–16:25

Georges Andres

Reconstructing signed relations from interaction data

Chair of Systems Design, ETH Zurich

See Abstract

September 14, 2023 | 16:45–17:10

Friday, September 15

Session

Co-Evolution of Relations and Opinions

Ramona Roller (Chair/Discussant)
Chair of Systems Design, ETH Zurich

September 15
09:00 – 10:30

Andreas Flache

When contact backfires, and when it does not. A social influence model of the dynamics of affective polarization

Department of Sociology, University of Groningen

See Abstract

September 15, 2023 | 09:00–09:25

Michel Grabisch

On the design of public debate in social networks

Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

See Abstract

September 15, 2023 | 09:45–10:10

☕️ Coffee Break 🥐

10:30–11:00

Session

Mechanism Design and Polarization Mitigation Strategies

Laurence Brandenberger (Chair/Discussant)
Chair of Systems Design, ETH Zurich

September 15
11:00 – 12:30

Natasha Wunsch

Democratic backsliding, attitudes towards democracy and affective polarization

Department of European Studies, University of Fribourg

See Abstract

September 15, 2023 | 11:00–11:25

Rainer Hegselmann

Polarisation in the bounded confidence model: A revised view

Frankfurt School of Finance & Management

See Abstract

September 15, 2023 | 11:45–12:10

Frank Schweitzer

Closing and Farewell

Chair of Systems Design, ETH Zurich

September 15, 2023 | 12:30–12:45