Voting Advice Applications and Their Impact on Ideological and Affective Polarization

Article Article scientifique Article Voting Advice Applications and Their Impact on Ideological and Affective Polarization eng 2026-01-28 author Walder Maxime 0000-0003-4753-2090 779920 Département de science politique et relations internationales (SdS) (SPERI) author Fivaz Jan 0000-0002-4960-8055 author Schwarz Daniel 0000-0002-2345-7287 39383 11236 10.17645/pag.11236 2183-2463 https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/11236 <p>Political polarization has been one of the most researched topics in political science over the past few years. While many scholars focus on the factors that foster ideological and affective polarization, less is known about the drivers of depolarization. In this article, we are addressing this gap by investigating the potential effects of using voting advice applications (VAAs) on both the ideological polarization of vote choice and the level of affective polarization among voters. Using data from the Swiss VAA Smartvote and from a field experiment within a two-wave panel survey conducted before and after the 2023 Swiss national election, this article presents partial evidence that using a VAA during election campaigns can contribute to a reduction in ideological and affective polarization among voters. Our findings have significant implications for the role of VAAs in increasingly polarized Western democracies.</p> Dewey 320 121 Département de science politique et relations internationales T3 false Politics and governance 14 ec8dc753-ed78-4a30-9d10-9c76a56baf41 Article (Published version) Public Article_scientifique_from_crossref.pdf 809630 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 ce2ea04f128d9df7ab68fd1611060b061c5b8909f497d9db2f47a9e0bdfc959e openAccess Faculté des sciences de la société / Département de science politique et relations internationales

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Voting Advice Applications and Their Impact on Ideological and Affective Polarization	Politics and governance			2026	17	558

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Schwarz, Daniel