Allegations of Democratic Election Fraud and Support for Political Violence Among Republicans

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Abstract

Are partisans more likely to endorse political violence when politicians accuse their rivals of election improprieties? I theorize that for Republican partisans in the United States, the answer to this question is yes. Republican partisans are primed to believe allegations of cheating by Democrats and view election improprieties through the lens of racial and xenophobic resentments. Allegations of Democratic election fraud prompt them to eschew nonviolent norms of political behavior and endorse political violence. I test these propositions using an original, online survey experiment involving 140 self-identified Republican subjects. I find that exposure to allegations by politicians that Democrats engage in election fraud prompts Republican partisans to increase their support for political violence. Furthermore, using mediation tests, I find that exposing Republicans to allegations of electoral fraud by Democrats reduces their trust of people of different races and religions which, in turn, increases their support for political violence.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)624-638
Number of pages15
JournalAmerican Politics Research
Volume52
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2024

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Sociology and Political Science

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