Presenter: Prof. Philip Santoso. Assistant Professor of Political science 

Discussant: Prof. Jiahua Yue.  Assistant Professor of Political science

Venue: WDR 1003

Abstract:

How do political elites shape public perceptions of what kinds of relationships are possible across partisan lines? While existing research has emphasized identity and contact as drivers of cross-partisan social ties, less is known about how elites influence the normative boundaries of such relationships. Building on theories of social norms and identity entrepreneurship, I argue that elite cooperation serves as a visible signal that cross-party friendships are socially viable. By engaging in cooperation, elites model behaviors that redefine partisan boundaries and shape citizens’ second-order beliefs about inter-partisan relationships. To test this argument, I combine original 2019 surveys from Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom with the Quantified Political Relationships (QPR) dataset, which tracks real-world episodes of elite cooperation. The results show that while elite cooperation has a modest average effect, its influence is significantly stronger among partisans of cooperating parties and among politically knowledgeable non-partisans. These findings demonstrate that elite cues shape not only policy attitudes or affect toward out-partisans but also meta-perceptions of democratic life, highlighting both the power and the limits of elite influence in sustaining the social fabric of democracy.