There is widespread concern about public support for political violence in the United States. Is this true in other democracies? Is the support for political violence we see in the US, which is small but not trivial, a US problem or a challenge facing democracies worldwide? In a new report, we contextualize support for political violence in the US with original survey data from five democracies: Brazil, India, Germany, Poland, and Israel.
We find that public attitudes toward political violence correlate with the occurrence of political violence, with the highest amount of public support seen in India. In addition, differing partisan identifications show little correlation with support for political violence while a general distrust in the political system is consistently linked to such support across democracies. In all countries except Germany, being younger is correlated with support for political violence.
With support from the Templeton World Charity Foundation, PRL has launched a cross-national study of partisan animosity and democratic backsliding. Over the next three years, we will collect 12,000 survey interviews each from five democracies around the world: Brazil, Germany, Poland, Israel, and India. The survey is fielded quarterly and began in January 2024.