Fear of campaign violence and support for democracy and autocracy

von Borzyskowski, Inken; Daxecker, Ursula; Kuhn, Patrick M.

Abstract

Election violence is common in many developing countries and has potentially detrimental implications for democratic consolidation. Drawing on political psychology, we argue that citizens’ fear of campaign violence undermines support for democracy while increasing support for autocracy. Using individual-level survey data from 21 electoral democracies in Sub-Saharan Africa, we find robust support for our argument. Citizens fearing campaign violence are less likely to support democracy and multi-party competition, more likely to favor a return to autocracy, and less likely to turn out to vote. Our findings have important implications for democratic survival and provide further impetus for reducing electoral violence.

Citation

von Borzyskowski, I., Daxecker, U., & Kuhn, P. M. (2022). Fear of campaign violence and support for democracy and autocracy. Conflict Management and Peace Science, 39(5), 542-564. https://doi.org/10.1177/07388942211026319

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 30, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jul 5, 2021
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jul 5, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 19, 2021
• Journal: Conflict Management and Peace Science
• Print ISSN: 0738-8942
• Electronic ISSN: 1549-9219
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 39
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 542-564
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/07388942211026319
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1240145