Dear EPSA members, We’re pleased to invite abstract submissions for our ECPR Joint Sessions (JS) Workshop on “The rise of hostile communication styles and their consequences on the functioning of modern democracies” (Innsbruck, 7–10 April 2026). We warmly welcome scholars at all career stages and from diverse methodological and disciplinary backgrounds. The ECPR JS brings together a small group of researchers working on related themes, offering a great opportunity for in-depth feedback and genuine scholarly exchange. If you work on hostility in elite rhetoric, democratic resilience, or related themes, we’d love to hear from you! Below (and at this link<https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/WorkshopDetails/16723>) you’ll find the full workshop description. To apply, please submit an abstract of up to 500 words via the ECPR submission portal<https://ecpr.eu/MyEcpr/Forms/PaperProposalForm.aspx?EventID=342> by December 10, 2025. We look forward to hearing from you! If you unable to attend or your research does not fit within workshop’s theme, we’d be very grateful if you could share this call within your network 🙏🏻 All the best, Chiara Chiara Vargiu, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Researcher Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) University of Amsterdam c.v.vargiu@uva.nl<mailto:c.v.vargiu@uva.nl> www.chiaravargiu.com<http://www.chiaravargiu.com> ********************************************* Workshop Title: The rise of hostile communication styles and their consequences on the functioning of modern democracies. Chair: Jeremy Dodeigne, University of Namur (jeremy.dodeigne@unamur.be) Co-Chair: Chiara Vargiu, Amsterdam School of Communication Research (c.v.vargiu@uva.nl) Workshop theme, aims and objectives: Amidst time of rising polarization and political violence, this workshop aims to investigate the transformative nature of political elites’ hostile communication styles and their consequences for democratic functioning. The workshop promotes conceptual and methodological innovation unpacking the different shades of elite hostility – e.g., uncivil, intolerant, and violent rhetoric – and their effects on democratic stability. From an empirical perspective, the workshop favours longitudinal and comparative approaches to hostile communication studied across multiple political and institutional contexts. From a normative perspective, the workshop investigates the conditions for democratic regimes to cope with increasing partisan hostility. Core questions this workshop seeks to answer: 1. To what extent are hostile styles detrimental (or not) to democratic regimes? What are the democratic consequences of different types and intensities of hostile rhetoric (e.g., on political participation, democratic attitudes, political violence, policymaking)? 2. How have political styles and hostile rhetoric evolved over time? Is there a structural trend toward “nastier politics” across democracies? 3. Which political and institutional contexts explain varying intensity of hostile communication styles across countries? 4. How does the medium (i.e. written, audio, and visual content) shape the use of hostile communication styles? 5. How do different contexts (i.e. electoral systems, party structures, political cultures, media arena) shape hostile communication styles? This workshop welcomes (but is not limited to) papers… … examining the normative implications of uncivil/intolerant/violent communication styles on democratic regimes; … favouring a longitudinal perspective (in single or multiple countries); … analysing countries and elite types that goes beyond the “usual suspects” (US case and focus on populist/authoritarian leaders); … comparing specific subgroups of politicians (women, ethnic minorities, marginalized groups, elites with immigration background, etc.); … comparing arenas of communication (political ads, TV debates, press interviews, social networks, parliaments, etc); … focusing on the audio-visual dimensions of hostile communication styles; … implementing computational and multimodal methods (e.g. visual analysis, NLP, audio-based approaches). How to apply: Submit an abstract of up to 500 words via this link<https://ecpr.eu/MyEcpr/Forms/PaperProposalForm.aspx?EventID=342> by December 10, 2025.