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Empathy and Political Reasoning

How Empathy Promotes Reflection and Strengthens Democracy

Expected online publication date:  07 April 2025

Lala Muradova
Affiliation:
University of Southampton

Summary

How do individuals make up their mind about politics? This question has sparked a vigorous debate in the study of political behavior for the last few decades. Some scholars contend that citizens can and should engage in political reflection, while others highlight biases in human political reasoning that make reflection impossible. This Element is about the conditions under which citizens can be motivated to transcend their egocentric biases and engage in reflection. Rather than asking whether citizens are capable of reflection, it shifts focus to a more productive question: how to motivate reflection. Firstly, it argues that (situational) empathy for the other side can inspire citizens to think reflectively about politics. Secondly, the Element proposes that deliberative institutions have the potential to evoke empathy for the other side in individuals. Thirdly, it draws on experimental and qualitative data from Belgium, Chile, Ireland, and the UK to test the theoretical expectations.
Type
Element
Information
Online ISBN: 9781009643573
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

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Empathy and Political Reasoning
  • Lala Muradova, University of Southampton
  • Online ISBN: 9781009643573
Available formats No formats are currently available for this content.
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Empathy and Political Reasoning
  • Lala Muradova, University of Southampton
  • Online ISBN: 9781009643573
Available formats No formats are currently available for this content.
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Save element to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Empathy and Political Reasoning
  • Lala Muradova, University of Southampton
  • Online ISBN: 9781009643573
Available formats No formats are currently available for this content.
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