To extend the findings of my dissertation, I apply my theory to additional country cases beyond Malaysia and the United States. My dissertation showed that anti-democratic policies spark powerful emotional reactions with downstream consequences for turnout, and that these reactions vary by context. New fieldwork beginning in Winter 2025–26 will expand the framework to South Korea and Cambodia, allowing me to compare how emotions shape political engagement across a wider spectrum of regime types.

In Malaysia, a country moving toward democracy, anger in response to electoral suppression drives engagement. In contrast, in the United States—where democracy is under strain—both anger and fear mobilize citizens. Although the suppression tactics are similar, the contextual parameters differ, producing distinct emotional pathways to participation.

Political psychology research typically focuses on single-country cases, often in the United States or Western Europe, and rarely engages Asian contexts. This project is novel because it incorporates cases across regime types, including Asia, to show how emotions function differently under varying conditions of democratization.

This comparative spectrum includes: