Comparative Political Behaviour Research
This topic brings together research on political participation, polarization, political information, trust, democratic engagement, and civic engagement.
Recent work investigates the relationship between affective polarization and political participation, the role of ideological polarization in the relationship between political news consumption and participation across 24 countries, and longitudinal relationships between perceived ideological polarization, institutional trust, and vaccination attitudes.
A dedicated comparative project examined political participation in the age of polarization across Austria, Poland, and Slovenia.
Connected Work
Projects and Publications
For the full unchanged publication list, see Publications. For funded project details, see Research Projects.
Key Findings
Selected findings from this research
Kirbiš, A., Lubej, M., & Branilović, S. (2026). From political news consumption to political participation: The mediating role of ideological polarization across 24 countries. International Journal of Sociology.
Key finding: Across 24 European countries (ESS Round 11), ideological polarization mediated the link between political-news consumption and participation only inconsistently, with positive indirect effects in just five to six countries.
doi.org/10.1080/00207659.2026.2667737Lubej, M., Dolezal, M., & Kirbiš, A. (2026). The impact of affective polarization on political participation: A systematic review. Political Studies.
Key finding: A systematic review of 18 studies found affective polarization is mostly positively associated with political participation, more strongly for institutional than non-institutional forms.
doi.org/10.1177/00323217251338496Kirbiš, A., Mattila, M., & Rapeli, L. (2023). Physical health conditions and political participation in Europe: The moderating effects of age. Comparative European Politics.
Key finding: Using European Social Survey data, most physical-health conditions mobilized people into political participation (except turnout), an effect strongest among younger citizens.
doi.org/10.1057/s41295-023-00347-3Kirbiš, A. & Lubej, M. (2025). The impact of health on voting intent among youth in nine Southeast European countries: A mediation analysis on the role of political trust. Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies.
Key finding: Across nine Southeast European countries, political trust raised youth voting intentions, and it mediated the health-to-voting link only in Slovenia.
doi.org/10.1080/14683857.2025.2576290Kirbiš, A. (2021). Political orientation in youth beyond the left-right divide: Testing a three-factor model of political orientation and its relatedness to personal values. Journal of Youth Studies.
Key finding: Among Slovenian youth (N=1,015), a three-dimensional model (social, economic, international) captured political orientation better than the traditional left–right scale.
doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2021.1939285Frequently Asked
Questions on this topic
Does polarization increase political participation?
A systematic review of 18 studies found affective polarization is mostly positively associated with political participation, especially institutional forms such as voting (Lubej, Dolezal & Kirbiš, 2026).
Does consuming political news make people participate more?
Across 24 European countries, ideological polarization mediated the link between political-news consumption and participation only inconsistently, with positive indirect effects in just five to six countries (Kirbiš, Lubej & Branilović, 2026).
Does poor health reduce political participation?
Using European Social Survey data, most physical-health conditions actually mobilized people into political participation (except turnout), an effect strongest among younger citizens (Kirbiš, Mattila & Rapeli, 2023).