Missions

The project POLSTYLE is funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant and coordinated by Prof. Jeremy Dodeigne (UNamur).

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POLSTYLE project (ERC starting grant 101078226)

New trends or old habits?

Stability and changes of political styles since 1960

Hardly a week goes by without reports of political officials using inflammatory language and viciously attacking their opponents. The mainstreaming of toxic rhetoric has been deeply restructuring politics over the past years. Amid a broader restyling of politics, various scholars have argued that such communication styles directly undermine the democratic functioning of our societies. The central claim of the POLSTYLE project is that not all forms of hostility are equal. Political conflicts are the lifeblood of democracy: they allow – and even require – heated disagreements, including at times uncivil exchanges betwe...