POLDEPOL- How do societies polarise and depolarise?

POLDEPOL investigates one of the most pressing challenges facing contemporary democracies: how societies become polarised and, equally importantly, how they can depolarise. As political and social divisions have intensified across many countries, polarisation has become associated with declining trust, weakened democratic norms, growing corruption, and increasing political instability. Focusing on European societies over the last 25 years, the project seeks to understand why disagreements sometimes escalate into deep societal divides and what factors help prevent or reverse these processes.

The research adopts a multidisciplinary mixed-methods approach, combining insights from political science, sociology, and psychology. Its innovative contribution lies in refocusing the study of polarisation on its core characteristics, examining its dynamics across European societies rather than primarily in the United States, and exploring how core human values and cultural preferences shape susceptibility to polarisation. Beyond advancing scientific knowledge, the project aims to generate evidence-based policy recommendations and contribute to public debate on how democratic societies can manage conflict, strengthen social cohesion, and foster democratic resilience.

The project is funded by an NKFIH Starting Grant (Project ID: 153254) awarded to Veronika Patkós as Principal Investigator. It will run from 2026 until the end of 2029 at the Institute for Political Science of the ELTE Centre for Social Sciences, with a total budget of approximately EUR 280,000.