MMM Workshop September 2023
Do we need more than one dimension to understand polarization?
Eckehard Olbrich
Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig
14 Sep 2023, 09:45–10:10

Abstract
It seems natural to think about about polarization along an one-dimensional spaces, i.e. along a single axes or between two groups, respectively. In my contribution I will discuss, why this might not be sufficient and how to work in higher dimensional spaces. In particular, I will discuss this problem in the context of cleavage theory and the hypothesis that the populist right parties that appeared in Europe in the last decades are part of a new cleavage. As an example I will discuss data from Swiss public votes between 1981 and 2018.