Resisting Democratic Decline – Political Psychology of Repair and Renewal

Sponsored by: Political Psychology Standing Group Section Chair: Tereza Capelos, University of Southampton — t.capelos@soton.ac.uk Section Co-Chair 1: Stavroula Chrona, University of Sussex — s.chrona@sussex.ac.uk Section Co-Chair 2: Donatella Bonansinga, University of Southampton — d.bonansinga@soton.ac.uk The 2026 Political Psychology Section explores how citizens, leaders, and institutions resist, repair, and renew democracy in times of strain. Building on over two decades of contributions from the Political Psychology Standing Group, this section focuses on the psychological foundations of democratic resilience and the individual and collective capacities that sustain democratic life amidst crisis and transformation. Across Europe and beyond, democratic institutions face intensified pressures — from grievance-driven populism and authoritarian tendencies to disinformation, social fragmentation, and economic precarity. These forces erode trust, weaken participation, and challenge the legitimacy of democratic systems. However, alongside decline, we also witness democratic innovation, civic resistance, and expressions of solidarity, trust, and creativity. Citizens organize to defend democratic values, engage in protest and advocacy, and imagine new forms of participation and governance. This dual movement of erosion and repair invites a renewed focus on the psychological mechanisms and processes that shape how people perceive threats, mobilize resistance, and foster democratic renewal. Political psychology offers a unique lens through which to understand these dynamics. By linking individual-level emotions, cognitions, and motivations to collective patterns of political behaviour and institutional change, it provides a crucial bridge between micro- and macro-level analyses of democratic life. The 2026 section thus seeks to illuminate how political actors — from ordinary citizens to elites and social movements — make sense of and respond to democratic challenges. We invite contributions that investigate the emotions, identities, cognitions, and motivations underpinning democratic resilience. How do citizens interpret and respond to democratic backsliding? What emotional repertoires — hope, anger, fear, pride, or empathy — drive civic engagement or apathy? Which cognitive and motivational processes support solidarity and repair after conflict and polarization? How do leadership and communication foster or hinder trust and reconciliation? And how can political psychology contribute to understanding both the vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities of democracy in an uncertain world? The section welcomes theoretically grounded and empirically rich papers from established and early-career scholars working across political science, psychology, sociology, international relations, and political communication. We particularly invite interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations and comparative designs that connect emotional, cognitive, and motivational mechanisms to broader political outcomes. Together, these panels will highlight new directions for political psychology research on the resistance, repair, and renewal of democracy, showcasing how psychological insights can inform democratic theory and practice in the twenty-first century. Intellectual Contribution and Rationale The 2026 section advances the study of democracy by foregrounding the psychological dimensions of decline and renewal. While research on democratic backsliding has grown rapidly, much of it focuses on institutional change or elite behaviour. Political psychology complements this by revealing how citizens feel, think, desire, and act under conditions of democratic strain — and how these subjective processes can sustain or erode democratic culture. In recent years, the Political Psychology Standing Group has played a central role in connecting European scholars working on emotions, identity, and political behaviour. This section builds on that legacy while moving the debate forward in three key ways: 1. From crisis to repair: It shifts focus from diagnosing democratic decline to understanding processes of renewal — the affective, cognitive, and motivational resources that enable citizens and institutions to rebuild trust and legitimacy. 2. From individual to collective agency: It examines how shared emotions, social identities, and collective narratives empower resistance and democratic innovation. 3. From vulnerability to resilience: It highlights the adaptive capacities of democratic societies, exploring how learning, empathy, and moral reflection can transform political divisions into opportunities for renewal. By integrating these perspectives, the section aims to produce cutting-edge transdisciplinary insights on how democracy endures and evolves in turbulent times. Proposed Section Panels 1. Resisting the Slide: Political Psychology of Democratic Resilience and Renewal This panel explores the psychological processes that underpin resistance to authoritarianism and the defense of democratic norms, focusing on moral resilience, commitment to norms, and collective action. 2. Hope, Solidarity, and Repair: Emotional Foundations of Civic Engagement and Democratic Trust Investigating how emotions such as hope, solidarity, and empathy foster collective action, political participation, and the restoration of trust in democratic institutions. 3. Truth and Reconstruction: Political Psychology of Disinformation, Trust, and Epistemic Repair Examining how individuals and communities rebuild epistemic trust after disinformation crises and how psychological mechanisms of motivated reasoning and trust repair shape democratic discourse. 4. Bridging Divides: Political Psychology of Dialogue and Reconciliation Focusing on strategies of empathy, deliberation, and moral repair that counter polarization and restore social cohesion in divided societies. 5. Voices of Resistance: Political Psychology of Protest, Activism, and Empowerment Exploring the emotional and cognitive foundations of resistance movements, civic mobilization, and political empowerment as engines of democratic renewal. 6. Leadership for Repair: Political Psychology of Transformative and Ethical Leadership Analyzing leadership styles and communication strategies that foster healing, trust, and democratic responsibility during and after crises. 7. Belonging and Exclusion: Political Psychology of Identity, Protection, and Deservedness Investigating the dynamics of inclusion, exclusion, and moral judgment that define who is seen as a full member of the democratic community. 8. Trauma and Recovery: Political Psychology of War, Conflict, and Reconciliation Examining the psychological aftermath of conflict and trauma, and the mechanisms of societal healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation that sustain post-crisis democracies. 9. Democracy Beyond Borders: Political Psychology of Global Solidarity and Cooperation Exploring transnational attitudes, cosmopolitan identities, and the emotional and cognitive bases of international democratic support and cooperation. This section has the full endorsement of the Political Psychology Standing Group and continues its longstanding commitment to promoting theoretically innovative, methodologically rigorous, and globally relevant political psychology research.