Supplementary information files for "Divided Opinion: The interactional accomplishment of ideological antagonism"

Supplementary files for article "Divided Opinion: The interactional accomplishment of ideological antagonism"

This paper analyzes the public expression of ideological antagonism as a discursive, interactional accomplishment with reference to one of Spain’s most polarized contemporary issues: Catalan independence. Using Discursive Psychology, we analyze seven focus groups (n=49) with lay citizens holding different political stances on Catalan self-determination. Our analysis investigates how participants collaboratively assign blame for polarization and manage highly critical views of outgroups within a rhetorical stance of reasonableness. Through the mobilization of competing notions of national citizenship and democracy, participants argue for the (i)legitimacy of distinct national projects. We also examine how some participants, within this highly conflictual atmosphere, collectively legitimize and defend illiberal measures against ideological adversaries as a rational and reasonable course of action. Issues of nationhood and citizenship are negotiated through varied interpretative repertoires, enabling participants to contrast commonsense rationality with perceived biases of political antagonists. This study contributes to literature on citizenship and political polarization by emphasizing the interactional construction of polarized views, shifting focus from cognitive processes to the rhetorical enactment of ideological antagonism in everyday argumentation.

Non-Technical Summary

Background

Growing levels of political antagonism have been observed in many Western democracies. Previous research, drawing upon concepts such as political and affective polarization, partisan prejudice, or more generally, political prejudice, has been focused on understanding the origins and consequences of increasing levels of political polarization, mainly using public opinion surveys and experimental designs.

Why was this study done?

Despite the growing academic interest in political polarization, there is still a paucity of social-psychological investigations aiming to understand how ideological antagonism is constructed in everyday political interactions between lay citizens. We construct a case for the importance of communication and interaction as foundations of political thinking, emotions, and moral frames, used to make sense of the sociopolitical landscape. We carried out an in-depth discourse analysis, using Discursive Psychology, in order to reveal how lay citizens co-construct polarized and polarizing pictures of political allies and adversaries in multi-party conversations.

What did the researchers do and find?

In our study, we analyzed focus group conversations involving citizens with different views on Catalan independence. We found that people collectively generate accounts of the political situation that blame their ideological antagonists for causing polarization, frequently constructing the outgroups and their political demands as biased or even undemocratic. Those opposing Catalan independence often portray independence demands as elite-driven, with supporters of independence constructed as lacking agency and acting irrationally. On the other hand, pro-independence participants highlight Spain's authoritarian past, framing the opposition to self-determination as a continuation of a legacy of authoritarianism and undemocratic practices. Throughout, participants navigate concerns of accountability, striving to present themselves as good citizens while engaging in intense political disagreements or even defending illiberal measures against groups described as ideological antagonists. These dynamics show how shared historical and symbolic references shape perceptions of political allies and opponents through the mobilization of competing notions of national citizenship.

What do these findings mean?

Our findings indicate that polarization extends beyond individual attitudes. It is a collectively produced phenomenon that is maintained through shared interpretations of history, democracy, and citizenship. In our article, we show that the public expression of ideological antagonism is a collective accomplishment, a product of interaction and joint actions between citizens that can be (re)produced in intra-group settings.

© The Author(s), CC BY 4.0