The East Asia Institute (President Yul Sohn), as a secretariat of the Asia Democracy Research Network (ADRN), invited you to the thirteenth online seminar of the [Democracy Cooperation] series, titled "Political Polarization in Asia and Its Impact on Democracy." Political polarization is a process of simplifying politics by presenting either-or-choices to the public. It usually damages democracy by dividing the electorate into two mutually mistrustful camps. While political polarization operates at both elite and mass levels, political elites including government and party leaders use polarization as a strategy to concentrate their power. With this in mind, this seminar invited speakers from four Asian countries to speak about their country’s political polarization and how it has been eroding democracy.
During the session 1, professor Jennifer McCoy from Georgia State University explained pernicious polarizationas a global threat to democracy.
