Social Science Space

Looking at the entirety of what occurred on Jan. 6, 2021, it’s clear that there was both legitimate protest and illegitimate political violence. When political violence replaces political discourse, and when political leaders refuse to play by the democratic rules of the game, democracies weaken, and may even die.

January 6 provided both a natural experiment for current research and a chance to see if past predictions might play out as expected. This collection of academic commentary on the attack should add ore light than heat to the discussion.

James Piazza concludes that when election losers in democracies reject election results, becoming “sore losers,” tribalism grows and political violence becomes less taboo.