National Identity and Partisan Polarization

National Identity Identity and Partisan Polarization examines how national identity has become a central issue in political and social life across the world. Questions of identity--who should be counted as a "true member" of a society and who deserves assistance from the government--have displaced other social and economic issues across nations in many countries.

This study considers the role of identity theoretically and in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Israel, and Taiwan. Identity varies over time and over countries. Some such as Sweden have a more "inclusive" sense of identity--one does not need to be born in the country or have ancestry to be considered a "true Swede." Other countries, such as Austria, France, Hungary, Poland, Israel, and Taiwan, have a more "exclusive" notion of identity--where one was born and a common heritage (race, religion, ethnicity) are seen as essential for seeing others as "true" members of society. "Outsiders" are viewed negatively, often as threatening a national culture and not deserving of government assistance. In the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, the major political parties take opposing positions on identity. In the United States and the United Kingdom, issues of identity have become highly correlated (polarized) with social and economic issues. In the former Communist countries of Hungary and Poland, the dominant parties have taken nationalist positions on identity but favor generous welfare policies for people of their own background. In Israel and Taiwan, social and economic issues have become less important than nationalism.

Eric M. Uslaner is Professor Emeritus of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland-College Park. He the author of eleven books, including The Historical Roots of Corruption (2017), The Moral Foundations of Trust (2002), Corruption, Inequality, and the Rule of Law (2010), Segregation and
Mistrust: Diversity, Isolation, and Social Cohesion (2012), and approximately 200 articles. He is the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Social and Political Trust (Oxford, 2018). He has been a consultant to the United Nations Human Development Fund and the Taihe Institute of Beijing, China. He is
also a Research Associate for the Gallup Organization and the co-editor with Nils Holtug of National Identity and Social Cohesion (2021) and with Chong-Min Kim, Inequality and Democratic Politics in East Asia (2019).