# Polarization of Climate Politics Results from Partisan Sorting: Evidence from Finnish Twittersphere

**Authors:** Ted Hsuan Yun Chen, Ali Salloum, Antti Gronow, Tuomas Ylä-Anttila, Mikko Kivelä  
**arXiv:** [2007.02706](https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.02706)  
**Date:** 2020-07-06  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/2007.02706v1/

## Key points

- Chen et al. study polarization of public opinion towards climate politics and other politically salient topics during the 2019 Finnish elections using Twitter data.
- They investigate issue alignment, a detrimental aspect of political polarization.
- Climate politics shows partisan sorting and issue alignment within the universalist-communitarian dimension of European politics influenced by right-wing populism.
- There is consistent alignment between climate politics and the immigration issue in public discourse.
- Temporal trends suggest this alignment will persist over time.
- The research offers insights into how public opinion on climate politics is influenced by partisan sorting and issue alignment in broader political dynamics in Finland.

## Summary

In their study, Chen et al. examine the polarization of public opinion towards climate politics and other politically salient topics during the 2019 Finnish elections using data from Twitter. They investigate whether there is a tendency for issue alignment, which is considered one of the most detrimental aspects of political polarization. The researchers find that while climate politics is not significantly polarized compared to other topics, it does exhibit partisan sorting and issue alignment within the universalist-communitarian dimension of European politics that emerged following the rise of right-wing populism. Interestingly, their findings reveal a consistent alignment between climate politics and the immigration issue, indicating a strong connection between these two topics in public discourse. The observed temporal trends suggest that this phenomenon will likely persist over time. By utilizing a network approach and analyzing social media data, Chen et al. offer valuable insights into how public opinion on climate politics is influenced by partisan sorting and issue alignment within the broader political dynamics in Finland. Their research contributes to our understanding of how different politically salient topics interact and influence each other in shaping public discourse and opinion formation during election periods.