Tadeáš Celý is a PhD candidate in political
science at Masaryk University. He specializes in political behavior. From September 2023 to May 2024, he spent nine months at the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College, where he compared political polarization and disagreement in European and American contexts as a Fulbright Student grantee. Reflecting on his recent stay abroad, he says: "I learned a great deal about various computational methods, such as using large language models for research, which I had never used before. Additionally, I gained a deeper understanding of efficiency."
Experiments With Belief Structures
Conducting research within a great team at a top university is a unique opportunity. It provides all
the necessary resources—not just financial, but also intellectual—to develop a research thesis that
truly matters. I began with a project on ideologies and how having an ideological worldview affects
interpersonal relationships. This topic was no coincidence; I had been working on the same research for more than two years before I went to Dartmouth. However, my time in the United States allowed me to collect data I otherwise couldn’t access, receive instantaneous feedback I would have struggled to get elsewhere, and learn something new every day.
Another reason to come to the United States is that it is at the forefront of research on how politics
divides us, what it does to our relationships, and the troubling societal consequences it leads to. This
is no coincidence, as the rifts between Democrats and Republicans have been growing for decades.
For me, as well as for many others, it serves as a valuable model. European politics is characterized
by multiple dimensions, various types of parties, and, in cases like the Czech Republic, quite frag-
mented public opinion. The United States, in contrast, is dominated by two main groups—liberals and conservatives—whose political beliefs are widely recognized and represent a majority share of the
public. There is also a residual category of people with mixed beliefs who are not clearly conservative
or liberal, sometimes called Conversians. My thesis was that Conversians who disagree on many issues harbor less animosity toward each other than the liberal-conservative pair. Even when many issues are known, Conversians find the belief system of their counterparts less coherent, while liberals and conservatives can anticipate more disagreement than they actually encounter. I found support for this hypothesis, as shown in Figure 2. I hope to build on these findings in several years to come.
divides us, what it does to our relationships, and the troubling societal consequences it leads to. This
is no coincidence, as the rifts between Democrats and Republicans have been growing for decades.
For me, as well as for many others, it serves as a valuable model. European politics is characterized
by multiple dimensions, various types of parties, and, in cases like the Czech Republic, quite frag-
mented public opinion. The United States, in contrast, is dominated by two main groups—liberals and conservatives—whose political beliefs are widely recognized and represent a majority share of the
public. There is also a residual category of people with mixed beliefs who are not clearly conservative
or liberal, sometimes called Conversians. My thesis was that Conversians who disagree on many issues harbor less animosity toward each other than the liberal-conservative pair. Even when many issues are known, Conversians find the belief system of their counterparts less coherent, while liberals and conservatives can anticipate more disagreement than they actually encounter. I found support for this hypothesis, as shown in Figure 2. I hope to build on these findings in several years to come.
Figure: Liberals and Conservatives Anticipate More (Dis)Agreement Than Others (Conversians).
I learned a great deal about various computational methods, such as using large language models for research, which I had never used before. Additionally, I gained a deeper understanding of efficiency. The workflow in the lab was impressive; tasks that would have taken months to complete at home were accomplished in just days. Even now, back at home, I am amazed by the output—a dashboard that provides real-time information on the offensive language used by specific politicians, weekly surveys of the mass population, and a series of reports on the recent federal elections (you can find all of these on the lab website).
Upper Valley: The Unlikely America
The purpose of the stay is not just research. After all, one of the aims of the Fulbright program is the
mutual cultural enrichment. Growing up in Czechia, my perception of the United States was quite
skewed and stereotypical. On one hand, there was modern America, with its skyscrapers and Silicon
Valley. On the other, there was the ’wild west’ of the Great Plains or the bizarre Southeast with its
theme parks and deep-fried dishes. The countryside of New England and the Upper Valley, home to
Dartmouth College, was nothing like that. The only show that comes to mind capturing the Northeast
is Gilmore Girls, which, ironically, was actually filmed in California. It’s the picture you least expect
when thinking about the United States - the unlikely America.
Life in the Upper Valley is simple and steady. With few distractions, people in the university town of Hanover get most of their entertainment from the university and one or two nearby movie theaters.
There are only a few restaurants, a few shops, and no malls or large buildings to disrupt the view. The entire town, along with its neighboring towns of Lebanon and Hartford, blends seamlessly into the surrounding woods. Despite the harsh nature of the area, we didn’t miss anything. Quite the opposite! All the essentials were there, along with an incredible sense of community. Let me illustrate: on my first day there, I forgot my wallet in a hotel and struggled to find a bus. A kind surgeon from a nearby hospital noticed, picked me up, drove me to the hotel and back, even though he wasn’t even headed in that direction.
It might be difficult to imagine a vibrant university in a rural setting. Dartmouth College, although
an Ivy League institution, is quite small in terms of student numbers and relatively disconnected from the rest of the world. Sometimes, you hear people complain that the nearest major airport is more than a two-hour drive away. Nevertheless, the university’s unique location spares you from much of the big-city chaos. The surrounding woods and mountains are stunningly beautiful, and between research sessions, you can easily slip away for a short walk along the Connecticut River. With a bit of luck, you might even spot a moose or a black bear—an ideal counterbalance to a full day of sitting behind your computer. This natural environment also brings the Dartmouth community together, whether in dining halls, the amazing library, or just chatting on the campus green.
The Upper Valley was, in many ways, the antithesis of the divided America we often hear about and which I came to study. Despite this, politics could still become contentious at times, even on campus. People were often eager to display their political allegiances in their front yards, while others openly declared their disinterest in politics. One house, in particular, had a sign that read: “Giant Meteor 2024: Just End It Already!” Fortunately, despite the underlying political animosity, politics was not a major topic of conversation for most people. At the market, you were more likely to hear about how this year’s calves were doing than talk about politics. In its own way, the simple life of the rural countryside kept all the vitriolic politics at bay.
Photo: Quincy Bog and Eagle Cliff in New Hampshire, November 2023.
Photo: Unlikely Residences: Farmhouse in Vermont, Beach House at Cape Cod, May 2024.
Photos: Institutions with more than three stories: Yale University, Vermont State House, winter 2023/2024.
Back at Home
The visit provided me with enough research ideas to keep me busy for many years to come. Some of
these projects are already in progress, while others are still in the planning phase, awaiting funding and other necessities. None of this would have been possible without the stay. Although we returned to Brno after nine months, many of the connections have remained. I invited the Czech PhD candidate we met in Chicago to join a shared project with a colleague, and the collaboration is going well. I’ve also stayed in touch with people from the Polarization Research Lab, and its director will visit us in Brno soon.