Empathy and Civic Action amidst Violence: Experimental Evidence from Mexico

• In Event: Short- and Long-Term Implications of Violence for State/Society Relations

Abstract

How do experiences with violence shape citizen civic engagement? Civil society serves as an important check on the state. While we tend to think of violence as hindering such democratic processes, recent research suggests that individual victimization is an important motivator of political and civic action. Yet, not all who experience violence do so in such a direct way. Even in conflict spaces, most individuals—the political majority—will experience violence indirectly, like witnessing violence firsthand or through the media. How do such indirect experiences shape the civic participation of this larger majority and, in turn, its ability to serve as a check on state power? Using data from an original nationally-representative survey experiment carried out in the context of Mexico’s drug war, I demonstrate that the positive association between violence and civic engagement is not limited to direct victimization but in fact extends to these indirect experiences. Specifically, indirect experiencers are more likely to express interest in civic engagement as a response to violence when their sense of empathy for drug war victims is provoked. I further draw on interview data collected during 16 months of field research to show how these civic responses help individuals build knowledge and skills necessary to make additional, future political demands, thus fundamentally changing their relationship to the state.

Author

• Rebecca V. Bell-Martin, Tecnologico de Monterrey