How Polarisation and Hatred for the Other Drive Political Mobilisation

Voting is when people choose their leaders.

In many countries, fewer and fewer people are voting, which worries leaders.

But some countries are seeing more people vote than ever before.

This story says the reason may not be a good one.

People may be voting because they are angry at or scared of those who think differently from them.

When people dislike a group called 'the Other', they get excited to vote against them.

Angry voters can push up the number of people who vote.

For example, in the Indian state of West Bengal, many more people voted than before.

In New York City, the 2025 mayoral election had its highest voter turnout since 1969.

But voting because we hate others can hurt how people treat each other in a democracy.