East-West: The Role of Public Attitudes in Policymaking on Migration and Integration in Europe
This Hybrid Policy Dialogue marks the publication of a new policy paper by Lenka Dražanová, MIDEM Visiting Fellow 2025 and Visiting Fellow at the European University Institute’s Migration Policy Centre, examining how public attitudes towards immigration vary across European contexts and what this means for policymaking.
The discussion will explore how policymakers can move beyond one-size-fits-all approaches to migration and integration and develop more context-sensitive strategies focused on social inclusion, fairness and constructive public engagement.
The event is organised as a cooperation between the European Policy Centre (EPC) and the Mercator Forum Migration and Democracy (MIDEM).
MIDEM beim 10. Gastmahl „Dresden is(s)t bunt“
MIDEM war am 31. August 2026 beim 10. Gastmahl „Dresden is(s)t bunt“ auf dem Dresdner Neumarkt dabei. Tausende Menschen kamen an langen Tafeln zusammen, um bei internationalen Speisen, Musik und einem vielfältigen Angebot miteinander ins Gespräch zu kommen und ein Zeichen für Weltoffenheit und gesellschaftliche Vielfalt zu setzen. Seit zehn Jahren bringt das Gastmahl „Dresden […]
DEPOLARIZE: Wissenschaftlich fundierte Methoden gegen affektive Polarisierung
Affektive Polarisierung bedroht demokratische Aushandlung – mehr als 81% der Deutschen nehmen die Gesellschaft als gespalten wahr. Im Verbundprojekt DEPOLARIZE entwickeln Lea Pehnt und Lotte Kirch mit Wissenschaftler*innen der Universität Hamburg und der Universität Wien Interventionen zur Förderung von Reflexion, Perspektivwechsel und Empathie. Sie übersetzen Erkenntnisse der Polarisierungsforschung in praxistaugliche Methoden, die Stereotype hinterfragen, Verständigung trainieren […]
The complexity of platform power
The complexity of platform power
Information and communication technology has undergone dramatic developments over the last two decades. Increasing interconnectedness has led to more self-organized public debates, platforms and their algorithms have gained new power over discourse, and generative AI has made content fabrication easier than ever. But it has also given research new tools to quantify precisely these systemic changes. Detailed data from social media allows us to measure and model their network structures and dynamics. Against this background, we ask: What is really changing, what does science know about the connection between the crises of democracy and the worldwide use of digital and social media? A better understanding of these systems is critical for civil society in democracies worldwide, and I will conclude with a methodological outlook on how we are currently trying to explore these missing puzzle pieces.
Foreigners welcome? Categorizing change in German mass media discourse
Mass media is often investigated for its influence on public opinion. However, media analysis often relies on measuring term prevalence, elements of framing, and determining bias. New approaches to media analysis are advantageous to the social sciences. Leveraging the German General Social Survey (GGSS), we utilize Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) to categorize and compare discourse for key points of time (2006, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2021), with over 10,000 media articles from several German media outlets. We focus on the migration and integration of foreigners in Germany and the competing discourse narratives surrounding these events. We adapt the term “foreigner” (Ausländer) in media text; German compound variations such as Ausländerproblem (foreigner problem) and Ausländerintegration (foreigner integration) are central to the discourse analysis. Based on semantic meaning and co-occurrence, these compound terms are grouped into four categories: Administration and Policy, Social Integration, Xenophobia, and Limiting Migration. Results demonstrate that Social Integration discourse becomes more prevalent over time. A subsequent sentiment analysis reveals that Social Integration discourse is not positive but neutral – other categories reflect a negative bias. We therefore discuss computational applications for the enhancement of media analysis, as well as challenges to contextualizing survey data.
Polarisierung | Depolarisierung – Herausforderungen für Politik, Medien und Gesellschaft
Affektive Polarisierung prägt in zunehmendem Maße gesellschaftliche und politische Auseinandersetzungen und stellt liberale Demokratien vor erhebliche Herausforderungen. Gemeint ist damit die emotionale Aufladung politischer Konflikte: In ohnehin kontroversen Debatten – etwa zu Migration oder Klimapolitik – treten Gefühle der Zugehörigkeit zu Gleichgesinnten ebenso hervor wie Misstrauen, Ablehnung oder Feindseligkeit gegenüber Andersdenkenden.
Affektive Polarisierung ist dabei keineswegs per se demokratieschädlich. Sie verweist darauf, dass politische Fragen als bedeutsam erlebt werden – und ist insofern eine Grundbedingung von öffentlichem Streit und demokratischem Diskurs. Gleichwohl zeigen aktuelle Entwicklungen, dass etablierte deliberative Verfahren angesichts zunehmender emotionaler Zuspitzung an ihre Grenzen stoßen. Ein hohes Maß an affektiver Polarisierung kann ein verfestigtes „Wir-gegen-sie“-Denken hervorbringen, das Dialogbereitschaft, Kooperation und soziale Integration untergräbt – und unter bestimmten Bedingungen Intoleranz, Eskalation und politische Gewalt begünstigt.
Vor diesem Hintergrund kamen am 22.04.2026 Akteure aus Wissenschaft, Politik, Medien und Zivilgesellschaft zur Tagung „Polarisierung I Depolarisierung – Herausforderungen für Politik, Medien und Gesellschaft“ zusammen, um über gegenwärtige Polarisierungsdynamiken in Deutschlandzu diskutieren.
Rethinking Attitudes toward Refugee Immigration: The Deservingness-Capacity Framework
Immigration has become an increasingly contentious and politicized issue in European societies, prompting a growing body of scholarship. Yet important gaps remain in explaining overall attitudes toward immigration. First, many studies rely on empirical models with only modest explanatory power. Second, although views toward refugees are increasingly recognized as distinct from general immigration attitudes, research […]
Hidden in Plain Sight: Affective Polarization and Support for Political Violence.
Affective polarization is often cited as a key driver of heightened partisan hostility and an increased willingness to engage in political violence. However, limited research exploring this relationship reveals an intriguing paradox: affective polarisation appears to be negatively correlated with support for political violence. What explains this surprising trend? In this talk, Lars Erik Berntzen […]
Populismus als Politikform
In seinem Vortrag zeigt Kolja Möller, dass der Populismus mit seinem Anspruch, das „Volk“ gegen die „Elite“ zu mobilisieren, an eine zentrale Gründungsfigur demokratischer Verfassungen anknüpft: die Volkssouveränität. Diese dient populistischen Akteuren als Ressource, um Einfluss auf Gesetzgebung und Ämterverteilung zu gewinnen und bestehende politische Funktionsträger:innen zu delegitimieren oder zu entmachten. Der Populismus bewegt sich […]
Polarized Democracies: New Lines of Division in Europe
Political polarization has become a recurring theme in debates about the state of European democracies. It shapes how citizens relate to political opponents, how parties position themselves, and how trust in democratic institutions is maintained or eroded. Polarization is visible across several arenas — including conflicts over values, identity, and social inequalities, as well as public debates about migration and cultural change, which often evoke strong emotional and moral reactions.
At the same time, scholarship cautions against overly dramatic or one-dimensional accounts of polarization that overlook its complexity, variation, and ambiguous democratic implications. Understanding when polarization becomes harmful — and when it reflects legitimate democratic contestation — remains an important analytical challenge.
This workshop brings together early career researchers (advanced doctoral and postdoctoral) from across Europe to examine how different forms of polarization emerge, how they intersect with issues such as migration and identity, and how they reshape democratic life. It aims to link empirical findings and theoretical perspectives on political and affective polarization, radical-right mobilization, media environments, and strategies for strengthening democratic cohesion and resilience.
