Political Polarization in Three Regional Powers
By: Priya Guduru
Dec 19, 2024
Political polarization is now at “toxic” levels in the three regional powers Brazil, India, and Türkiye. This week’s graph shows the steep (Brazil, India) and gradual (Türkiye) increases in political polarization from 2000 to 2023.
High polarization indicates that supporters of opposing political camps generally interact in a hostile manner also beyond politics, for example, in family functions, civic associations, their free time activities, and workplaces.
Political actors who instrumentalize divisive and exclusionary rhetoric turn polarization toxic, undermining democracy by weakening of democratic norms, diminishing societal trust, increasing violence, and the corrosion of legislative and judicial processes.
There is a slight downward shift from the extremely high political polarization in Brazil during the Bolsonaro era, following the 2022 elections. In India, polarization inclined steeply in 2013. Disinformation and hate speech proliferating on social media further fuels societal polarization that could deteriorate democracy in the country.
Türkiye's polarization remains the highest among the three. The gradual increase leading to high political polarization is eroding the basis for a pluralistic democracy in Türkiye.
With such toxic polarization in all three countries, it is crucial to find ways to depolarize the societies to help improve democratic quality.
Note: Our current data spans until the end of 2023. This graph does not include developments in 2024.
For this V-Dem indicator, the scale is reversed, meaning that a score closer to 4 means that polarization is higher, and the situation worse. A score closer to 0 means that there is less polarization, and the situation better.
