Polarised militants: mobilizing party activism in European countries

There has been a lot of scholarship debate recently about the impact polarization is having on current politics, from its impact on party systems and government behaviour to its impact on individual political participation . The literature has analysed polarization either at the systemic level focused on the perception of ideological distance between parties (horizontal polarization) or at the individual level focused on the perceived distance between voters’ and parties ideological stances (vertical polarization) (Rodríguez-Teruel 2020). The existence of party system polarization increasing the distances between political parties makes party-switching less likely, benefitting those parties already represented in the institutions. At the same time, we have observed the successful emergence of new parties benefitting from this polarization in many European countries. While previous research analyses how the perception of horizontal and vertical polarization has an impact on voting behaviour, little attention is paid to its impact on other forms of conventional participation such as party membership and activism. Recent studies point out towards stability or increase of party activism in contrast with the decline of party membership and the relevance systemic and party factors might have to explain this different trend (Heidar 2006; Scarrow 2007; Ponce and Scarrow 2014; Bale, Webb and Poletti 2020; Demker, Heidar and Kosiara-Pedersen 2020; Rodríguez-Teruel, Correa and Barberà 2021). In this paper, we test the effect of polarisation on citizens’ party affiliation. Are polarised individuals more likely to get involved in party activities? In general terms, do more polarised countries have higher levels of party involvement? To respond these questions, we address the issue at two different levels, comparing among countries and among individuals. We will pay particular attention to Southrn European countries, where trends of recovery in party activism have been detected in a recent own study (Rodríguz Teruel, Correa and Barberà, 2021). We use ESS data to first assess the aggregate impact polarization has as a mobilising effect on party activism in European democracie and second, assess the impact polarization has at the individual level.