The Center for Positive/Empirical Analysis of Political Economy invited Dr. Jonathan A. Chu (National University of Singapore) and held a special seminar titled ‘Collective Punishment of the Other: Groupness and Public Backlash against Foreign Nationals during International Competition’ and ‘Democracy: What do the people think?’.
The former is an experimental study that incorporates elements of the often discussed social psychology of so-called in-groups and out-groups into international politics, while the latter discusses how citizens in different countries think about and understand democracy, and what they see as essential to it, with particular emphasis on the latter, which is now under investigation. Data from the US and Japan obtained online during 2023 showed that in the former, ‘freedom’ is understood as the most important aspect of democracy, while in the latter, elections are understood to be extremely important, and that culture, political institutions or historical context change what is essential for democracy. Future surveys in countries such as India and Thailand are planned, and there was a lively discussion, with ideas for improving the items in the survey coming from the floor.
