Is Politics Too Emotional, Or Not Emotional Enough?

Is politics too emotional? Are voters and politicians too angry or too anxious? Particularly in these times of polarisation and radicalisation, emotions in politics often get the blame. Could we maybe ‘turn off’ these emotions? That would allow conversation again. Right? But we cannot ‘turn off’ emotions. In fact, democracy needs them. Perhaps we can use emotions to strengthen democracy? In this lecture, dr. Gijs Schumacher (University of Amsterdam, Hot Politics Lab) discusses recent scientific research.  In doing so, he debunks myths about emotions, polarisation and populism, and discusses new challenges for our democracy.

Gijs Schumacher is Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. He is co-director of the Hot Politics Lab. His research deals with important societal themes such as populism, polarisation and the role of emotions in democracy. In his research, he uses innovative methods from neuroscience and computer science.