I-POLHYS
Investigating POlarization in HYbrid media Systems
I-POLHYS is a three-years project that addresses the intersections between media, communication and political polarization in Italy.
It grounds in a team joining researchers from the Universities of Bologna, Milano, Sassari, and Trento. It is funded by the Ministry of University and Research within the PRIN 2017 framework (Research Projects of Relevant National Interest for the year 2017 – project code: 20175HFEB3).
I-POLHYS aims at understanding the multifaceted relationship between the increasing complexity of the current media system and the different forms that political polarization processes can take with particular reference to the Italian context. To this aim, it combines a set of herìtereogeneous studies – longitudinal, cross-sectional and digital-based – adopting a variety of methods – qualitative, quantitative, and digital social research – and looking at polarizing dynamics that involve a plurality of actors – citizens, political and social élites, journalists.
Citizens
Studies aimed at exploring – through diverse methodologies – the relationships between citizens repertoires of information, communication and political participation as well as the different forms of polarizations that can emerge in relation to political ideologies, actors, and themes.
Political elites
Studies focused on the performance of political elites within different media spaces – from mass media to different social media platforms – and aimed at grasping the multiple polarization dimensions that orient and structure the institutional political disocurse.