Exploring public and expert perceptions of political polarization on climate change policy

Climate change mitigation is to a considerable degree a highly politicized, and often politically polarizing, issue. As previous research has shown that public perceptions of political polarization can undermine support for climate change policy, it is important to understand what factors shape levels of perceived polarization on climate change mitigation. This paper investigates: (1) the extent to which the public perceives political parties to be polarized on climate change mitigation, (2) how these perceptions relate to expert estimations of political polarization, and (3) what individual level factors explain variations in levels of perceived polarization on climate change mitigation. By combining public opinion and expert survey data, the results show that public perceptions of polarization on climate change generally are lower than expert assessment, but also that there is a considerable variation in public perceptions. This variation in perceptions is found to mainly be driven by how individuals view the climate policy position of the party they identify with, their attachment and ideological proximity to the party, as well as their level of interest in politics. The results underscores the importance of understanding the formation of public perceptions of climate change politics well in order to enact effective and legitimate climate change policy.