1 in 4 Americans say violence against the government is sometimes OK

URL	https://Persagen.com/docs/neofascism-usa-one-in-four-americans-say-violence-against-the-government-is-sometimes-okay.html	Trump supporters climb the west wall of the U.S. Capitol on 2021-01-06. [2021 United States Capitol attack]  |  [source]
Sources	Persagen.com  |  other sources (cited in situ)
Source URL	https://www.npr.org/2022/01/31/1076873172/one-in-four-americans-say-violence-against-the-government-is-sometimes-okay
Title	1 in 4 Americans say violence against the government is sometimes OK
Author	Matthew S. Schwartz, a reporter with NPR's news desk. Before coming to NPR, Schwartz worked as a reporter for Washington, D.C., member station WAMU, where he won [2015] the national Edward R. Murrow Award for feature reporting in large market radio. Previously, Schwartz worked as a technology reporter covering the intricacies of internet regulation. In a past life, Schwartz was a Washington telecom lawyer. He got his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Georgetown University Law Center, and his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from the University of Michigan.
Date published	2022-01-31
Curation date	2022-01-31
Curator	Dr. Victoria A. Stuart, Ph.D.
Modified
Editorial practice	Refer here  |  Date format: yyyy-mm-dd
Summary	Nearly a quarter of Americans say it's sometimes OK to use violence against the government - and 1 in 10 Americans say violence is justified "right now."
Main article	Neofascism
Named entities	Show 2020 United States elections | 2021 United States Capitol attack | American Civil Rights Movement | American Revolution | Americans | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | Christian Davenport | COVID States Project | COVID-19 questions | COVID-19 related | Dartmouth College | David Lazer | Nazis | Peace Research Institute Oslo | Rachel Kleinfeld | Republicans | Sean Jeremy Westwood | Sean Westwood | The COVID States Project | The COVID States project | The Washington Post | U.S. capitol | University of Chicago | University of Maryland | University of Michigan | Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Keywords	Show American history | armed protests | civil rights movement | conservatives | democratic system | government | ideological | insurrection | liberals | mask mandates | masks | political violence | rebellion | threats | vaccine mandates | violence | vote modality
Keyphrases	Show 1 in 10 Americans believed the use of force was justified to restore Trump to the presidency after he lost 1 in 10 Americans say violence against the government is justified "right now" 1 in 4 Americans say it's sometimes OK to use violence against the government 2020 U.S. elections affecting election workers, volunteer poll workers, school boards American society Americans' attitudes toward the acceptability of violent protest against the government Among Republican men, the figure rises to nearly 1 in 5 beliefs around the anticipated legitimacy of the 2020 election concern about the safety of government officials concern about the state of American democracy COVID-19 related closures COVID-related policy preferences and behaviors current political climate federal government is an appropriate target filtering viral particles government needs to hold citizens to account how people voted was determined in part by COVID illegitimate government individuals will say things on a poll but never show up January 6, 2021 attack moved from the sphere of chest thumping into the sphere of reality one-third direct their ire at state governments people are more likely to contemplate violent protests than they had been storm the Capitol taught from grade school that it is at some points in history justifiable to engage in violent protest The number of Americans who support violent political protests has doubled over the last decade threatens the workers who keep our democracy running violence against government officials violent political protests violent protest against the government is justifiable
Ontologies	Show Nature - Earth - Geopolitical - Countries - United States - Politics - Issues - Obstruction Nature - Earth - Geopolitical - Countries - United States - Politics - Political parties - Republican Party Society - Issues - Discrimination - Hate groups - Alt-right movement Science - Social sciences - Psychology - Behaviorism - Conformity - Anticonformity - Rebellion Society - Politics - Political ideologies - Conservatism Society - Politics - Political ideologies - Conservatism - Conservatism in the United States Society - Politics - Political ideologies - Conservatism - Conservatism in the United States - Movements - Trumpism Society - Politics - Political ideologies - Far-right politics Society - Politics - Political ideologies - Far-right politics - Oath Keepers Society - Politics - Political ideologies - Far-right politics - Proud Boys Society - Politics - Political ideologies - Fascism Society - Politics - Political ideologies - Fascism - Authoritarianism Society - Politics - Political ideologies - Fascism - Neofascism Society - Politics - Political ideologies - Identity politics - White pride Society - Politics - Political ideologies - Nationalism - Racial nationalism - White nationalism

Main Article

Nearly a quarter of Americans say it's sometimes OK to use violence against the government - and 1 in 10 Americans say violence is justified "right now." That's the finding of a new report  [local copy] by The COVID States Project, which asked 23,000 people across the country whether it is "ever justifiable to engage in violent protest against the government?" The report is one of several in recent months that find people are more likely to contemplate violent protests than they had been in the past. Nearly 1 in 4 said violence was either "definitely" or "probably" justifiable against the government. A similar percentage of liberals and conservatives agree on this point.

That's not surprising when you think about how American history is taught, said COVID States Project co-director David Lazer  [local copy  |  Wikipedia: David Lazer]. "You know, we begin with the American Revolution against an illegitimate government and so we are, in a sense, taught from grade school that it is at some points in history justifiable to engage in violent protest," Lazer said. The COVID States Project typically asks questions about Americans' COVID-related policy preferences and behaviors - whether they understand what kinds of masks are better at filtering viral particles, for instance, or what they think about vaccine mandates. But in the current political climate, COVID-19 questions aren't too far-removed from questions about violence, Lazer said. "Before the election in 2020, we were looking at both beliefs around the anticipated legitimacy of the 2020 election, as well as things like vote modality - because obviously how people voted was determined in part by COVID," Lazer said. "We see it all in part as a package with what has happened over the last two years to American society."

The survey also found that 1 in 10 Americans say violence is justified right now. Republicans and ideological   conservatives are most likely to say violent protest against the government is justifiable right now, the report found. Among Republican men, the figure rises to nearly 1 in 5. Two-thirds of those who believe violent protest is justified say the federal government is an appropriate target; about one-third direct their ire at state governments. "Unfortunately, these survey findings are not at all surprising," said Rachel Kleinfeld  [local copy], a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Kleinfeld, who was not involved in the survey, says the findings are consistent with other recent polling.

Last year, a University of Chicago poll found almost 1 in 10 Americans believed the use of force was justified to restore Trump to the presidency after he lost. And in 2021-12, The Washington Post and University of Maryland together found that 1 in 3 Americans think violence against the government is sometimes justified. The number of Americans who support violent political protests has doubled over the last decade, she said. And to Kleinfeld, these poll results reflect more than just philosophizing. "It's moved from the sphere of chest thumping into the sphere of reality, and it's affecting election workers, volunteer poll workers, school boards, you know, really the kind of warp and weft of our democratic system," she said. The government needs to hold citizens to account, says Kleinfeld. Not just those who would storm the Capitol, she says, but anyone who threatens the workers who keep our democracy running.

Polls can overstate potential for violence, some researchers say

But some researchers, who weren't involved in conducting the survey, worry that the findings - while provocative - may overstate American support for political violence. Sean Westwood  [local copy  |  C.V.], a professor of government at Dartmouth College, is working on a paper that tries to correct for the errors in measurement that exist when people are questioned about political violence. "When trying to measure violence, there's this tendency to try to be as general as possible to try and capture as much support as possible," Westwood said. And people who are indifferent - who haven't thought much about political violence or protests - may randomly pick between the options, which could lead to an over-counting of people who support political violence, he said. Moreover, the survey questions don't capture context, Westwood said. "There are a lot of instances we can think of where violent protests against the government could very well be justified," he said, pointing to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against the Nazis, or the civil rights movement in the U.S. "And that is going to vary quite dramatically from what we saw on 2021-01-06." Yet both scenarios would be captured in the survey question. "So it's really impossible, in the setup, to know what respondents are agreeing to," Sean Westwood said.

Christian Davenport, a professor at the University of Michigan and a research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, is similarly circumspect. While the numbers are "not especially surprising," Davenport said he's "not a fan of the use of polls exclusively" to determine a populace's potential for violence. "Individuals will say a great number of things on a poll," he said, "but never show up for anything."

Additional Reading

As Trump's Big Lie  [Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election] festers among the Republican Party and political norms continue to erode, we at The New Republic are pretty concerned about the future of small "d" democracy - both in the United States, and abroad. So we've started a series we've termed Democracy Watch, wherein we will regularly survey experts, writers, and generally interesting thinkers on a specific question about the state of democracy and what keeps them up at night.

---

Abstract

Recent years have seen armed protests, threats, and violence against government officials following mask mandates, COVID-19 related closures, and the 2020 United States elections [including, most notably, the deadly 2021-01-06 attackon the U.S. capitol  |  2021 United States Capitol attack]. These events have sparked concern about the state of American democracy and concern about the safety of government officials. In this report, we examine Americans' attitudes toward the acceptability of violent protest against the government.

---

Return to Persagen.com