Political Violence

In mid-2025, a substantial minority of Americans endorse authoritarian views; smaller minorities agree that the current federal government should rely on the military to enforce its policies and would be willing to engage in violence on behalf of the government. Large majorities of Americans reject authoritarianism and political violence.

In 2023, Wave 2 of an annual, nationally representative longitudinal survey found a concerning level of agreement that civil war was likely in the USA and, among those who agreed, widespread belief that civil war was needed. This study updates those findings to 2024 and explores respondents’ predicted involvement in such a conflict.

The possibility of widespread political violence poses a serious concern for the United States. A nationally representative survey found in 2022 that “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) Republicans, as defined, were more supportive than others of political violence. This study updates and expands those findings; the principal comparison is between MAGA Republicans and non-MAGA non-Republicans. 

In 2022, a nationally representative longitudinal survey in the USA found concerningly high prevalences of support for and personal willingness to engage in political violence, but those prevalences decreased in 2023. This study examines changes in those prevalences from 2023 to 2024, an election year in the USA.

A small segment of the U.S. population considers violence, including lethal violence, to be usually or always justified to advance political objectives. This is according to newly published research from the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP).

Background: In recent years, the United States (US) has witnessed a rise in political violence. Prior research has found that an individual's social network is associated with their likelihood of engaging in various forms of violence, but research on social networks and political violence in the US context is limited.

During this webinar, researchers from the University of California, Davis and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussed new research that examines the public’s attitudes toward political violence, and how gun owners in particular view this topic. Panelists also discussed the implications of this new research on the upcoming election.

There are growing concerns about political violence after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.

In this interview with KCRA's Brittany Hope, Dr. Garen Wintemute shares the findings from annual surveys on support for and willingness to engage in political violence.

“Remember during the 2020 presidential race when Donald Trump refused to disown right-wing violent extremists, instead telling the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by”? We might now know what they’ve been standing by for.” Continue reading.

Surveys have found concerningly high levels of agreement that the United States will experience civil war soon. This study assesses variation in expectation of and perceived need for civil war with respondent sociopolitical characteristics, beliefs, firearm ownership, and willingness to engage in political violence.