event

The Rise of Political Violence in the United States

Thu. November 18th, 2021
Live Online

Political violence seemingly erupted when rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, but such violence has been on the rise in the United States since 2017, fueled by a more polarized electorate and divisive domestic politics. Is this uptick in election violence just an American phenomenon? What other factors may have catalyzed this worrying trend, and what can citizens and states do to bolster democracy?

Join us for a discussion with Rachel Kleinfeld on her most recent Journal of Democracy article examining the risk factors for election violence, as well as what scholarship and years of practice around the globe can tell us about what is happening and what can be done. She will be joined by Christian Davenport and Nealin Parker. 

DemocracyNorth AmericaUnited StatesSouthern, Eastern, and Western AfricaSouth AsiaIndia
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Christian Davenport

Christian Davenport is the Mary Ann and Charles R. Walgreen professor for the study of human understanding at the University of Michigan as well as a faculty associate at the Center for Political Studies and research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo. His primary research interests include political conflict, measurement, racism, and popular culture.

Rachel Kleinfeld

Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program

Rachel Kleinfeld is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, where she focuses on issues of rule of law, security, and governance in democracies experiencing polarization, violence, and other governance problems.

Nealin Parker

Nealin Parker is executive director of Common Ground USA, a new initiative at Search for Common Ground, the world's largest dedicated non-governmental peacebuilding organization. Prior to this she was founder and co-director of the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University, a nonpartisan research initiative on political violence mitigation in the U.S.