When Labels Become Burdens: The Consequences of Political Delegitimization Discourse on Political Identity Deconstruction

When Labels Become Burdens: The Consequences of Political Delegitimization Discourse on Political Identity Deconstruction | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article When Labels Become Burdens: The Consequences of Political Delegitimization Discourse on Political Identity Deconstruction Naama Rivlin-Angert This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9393654/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract While extensive scholarship examines how political identities are formed and crystallized, the mechanisms of their deconstruction remain underexplored. This paper introduces the framework of Political Identity Deconstruction, a powerful and damaging force that shapes contemporary politics. I argue that elite Political Delegitimization Discourse (PDD) can render specific identities socially unacceptable. This symbolic stigmatization compels citizens to become "Repudiating Persons," who disavow the label to preserve their self-esteem while retaining instrumental preferences. Utilizing Israel as a case study, I integrate a supervised machine learning analysis of thirty years of parliamentary speech with longitudinal public opinion data (1992-2022). The findings reveal that PDD is an asymmetric weapon, with right-wing discourse proving more resilient than that of its opponents. Crucially, fluctuations in right-wing PDD significantly predict subsequent increases in the population of left-wing voters who repudiate their political identity. These results demonstrate how symbolic rhetoric reshapes the electorate through social shame, narrowing legitimate competition and posing a fundamental challenge to democratic pluralism. Delegitimization Political Identity Discourse Political Rhetoric Israel Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files WhenLabelsBecomeBurdensAppendices.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9393654","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":641585523,"identity":"632a68f1-17c8-44d0-9e5e-1b76428ebd99","order_by":0,"name":"Naama Rivlin-Angert","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Hebrew University of Jerusalem","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Naama","middleName":"","lastName":"Rivlin-Angert","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-12 11:08:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9393654/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9393654/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":109759527,"identity":"a492afd9-f496-45dc-a55f-1f8d0a142ecc","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-22 07:27:16","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1264794,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"WhenLabelsBecomeBurdensAnonymous.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9393654/v1_covered_29bf773a-d399-48fc-a68a-20500d9d8087.pdf"},{"id":109432774,"identity":"58306895-be75-4b3c-9d5d-f71766fad218","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-18 05:32:28","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":69326,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"WhenLabelsBecomeBurdensAppendices.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9393654/v1/1763a98392490cf4eae1e548.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"When Labels Become Burdens: The Consequences of Political Delegitimization Discourse on Political Identity Deconstruction","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Delegitimization, Political Identity, Discourse, Political Rhetoric, Israel","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9393654/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9393654/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"While extensive scholarship examines how political identities are formed and crystallized, the mechanisms of their deconstruction remain underexplored. 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