PhD Candidate Braeden Davis and Recent PhD Grad Yu-Shiuan Huang Publish Research Note on British Monarchy

Braeden Davis (PhD candidate) and Yu-Shiuan Huang (UCD PhD 2025) recently published a research note in Electoral Studies, titled “Happy and Glorious? The Sometimes-Unifying Effects of the British Monarchy.” In this study, they ask: “Do monarchs unify?” Using two waves of survey experiments in the UK, they find that priming people to think positively about the monarchy increases national pride and indirectly reduces affective polarization. Interestingly, this effect only appears when polarization is measured by social distance, not feeling thermometers. This suggests that while the monarchy may reduce hostility toward fellow citizens, it doesn’t necessarily reduce partisan hostility. Their exploratory analysis also shows that the treatment increased support for Scotland and Northern Ireland remaining in the UK, again, through the mediating role of national pride.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379425000678