Generational legacies of authoritarianism: Evidence from Spain

Laia Balcells
Juan F Tellez
Francisco Villamil

European Political Science Review, forthcoming.

Abstract:

Decisions about how to memorialize difficult histories often spark controversy and polarization. This study examines the role of partisan media in shaping polarization over historical memory. Using a PICA experimental design embedded in an online survey in Spain, we examine how traditional media affects attitudes toward historical memory compared to other contentious issues. In a first experiment fielded in early 2022, we find that partisans show resistance to persuasion on historical memory topics; however, we do not detect such resistance in a similar experiment conducted sixteen months later. These findings highlight the need to study how partisan media shape attitudes about the past and suggest that single-shot survey experiments may be insufficient for capturing temporal dynamics in opinion formation.