Mapping Opinion Polarization: Belief Networks and Political Environment across 89 Countries in 2017-2022
Mar 6, 2025·
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1 min read
Steve Liming Meng
Yizhao Song
Felicia F. Tian
Cross-national polarization patterns (2017–2022)Abstract
Our study aims to construct unified metrics for both dimensions of polarization through network analysis to conduct a cross-national comparison of opinion polarization and further explore the influence of the political environment on opinion polarization. We use Belief Network Analysis method, dimensionality reduction techniques for network metrics, and OLS and Fixed-Effects models to achieve this.
Type
Publication
In 2025 Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting
We utilize Belief Network approaches to conduct a cross-national comparison of different opinion polarization patterns. Following DellaPosta (2020), we come up with the 2-dimensional measure of polarization and link that with political factors of different countries using OLS and two-way fixed-effect (TWFE) models.
Figure: Model-based Microsimulation Result
