The Influence of Different Voting Systems on Polarisation

Polarisation is a worldwide phenomenon which frequently dominates the news. This research's contribution to the literature about voting-induced polarisation is two-fold. First, it uses a new methodology to investigate the influence of the act of voting on polarisation. Existing literature focuses on historical data while this thesis makes use of an online controlled experiment. Second, this thesis investigates the influence of different voting systems on polarisation. Results show that voting for one candidate increases polarisation within the electorate. Next to this, voting for two candidates increases polarisation less than voting for one candidate. Despite the fact that the latter result is not significant, it serves as an important starting point for future research focusing on ways to decrease polarisation.