Living in Fear? Political Violence and Authoritarian Attitudes Among Politicians in South Africa

Abstract

Do elected representatives become more authoritarian when violence against politicians is made salient? Many states are beset by politician-directed violence, but we know little about the consequences of such violence for democratic politics. In this paper we use a pre-registered survey experiment to investigate whether raising the salience of violence against politicians influences authoritarian attitudes among local councillors in South Africa. We find that councillors prompted to think about politician-directed violence are significantly more likely to adopt authoritarian attitudes. We also find strong heterogeneous treatment effects by political party, with the strongest effects among opposition party members. Unlike members of the nationally dominant African National Congress (ANC), opposition councillors appear to interpret politician-directed violence as a signal of systemic corruption, leading them to prioritize re-establishing order. Our findings have important implications for understanding the effects of violence on political elites and the determinants of authoritarianism.