Mitigating Support for Political Violence through Social Proof

• In Event: Polarization and Democratic Decline

Abstract

The January 6, 2020 attack on the U.S Capitol Building shocked Americans as a rare moment of political violence. While political violence was relatively unfamiliar to Americans before January 6th, it is normal in many countries around the world. For example, in Kenya 33 people died during acts of political violence in the last presidential election in 2017. And thousands more died in prior episodes surrounding previous elections. We deploy a survey experiment in areas with relatively high support for political violence in the US and Kenya. Subjects in treatment view a political flyer informing them of the very low support for political violence in their countries, which is compared both to a placebo flyer and a pure control condition. Outcome measurement assesses support for political violence through multiple survey items. The survey also measures covariates including socio-economic status, education, and news consumption to enable better statistical control and to assess interaction effects of treatment with moderators. Our survey experiment seeks to understand how information about peer attitudes may decrease support for political violence in both the US and Kenyan contexts. The two countries enable consideration of heterogeneous effects across different contexts with distinct political histories and social norms surrounding elections.

Author

• Stephanie Garza