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The vast majority of Dutch people are concerned about polarisation, especially in politics, the media and on social platforms such as Twitter. They are disturbed by the deteriorating ways and stiffening of public and political discourse they see.
The Dutch experience less polarization in their immediate environment. This is because they mostly surround themselves with like-minded people. They also often avoid discussions with friends, family, and coworkers about difficult issues in an effort to avoid conflict.
This can be seen from a research by the SCP Social and Cultural Planning Office). Three-quarters of respondents believe that disagreements on social issues are on the rise. According to the SCP, scientific research contradicts this impression: on many topics there is more agreement than you think and differences of opinion do not increase.
Corona exception
What mainly annoys the Dutch is the harsh tone of the debate, not listening to each other properly and sticking to one’s rights. People experience that especially small groups with a confrontational style get a lot of attention on TV talk shows, among other things.
As mentioned, they try to avoid these sorts of confrontations wherever possible in their own environment, but this becomes more difficult the more they are personally touched by a topic. This concerns, for example, racism, LGBTI rights or nitrogen. Avoidance was also difficult with corona: This affected everyone and discussions about vaccination thus also caused tension in one’s own circle.
‘Avoid hostile tones’
The SCP concludes from the study, among other things, that it is important to avoid a harsh and hostile tone towards dissidents in political debate and to focus on the content. Excessive hostility and the glorification of contradictions “can over time undermine social cohesion and the functioning of democracy”, writes the agency.
On the other hand, both the media and politicians would do well not to rush differences of opinion into the corner of polarization, says the SCP. “After all, there are always differences of opinion and viewpoint and that’s part of a democracy.”
