Rumors of Boogaloo: Measuring Militant Right-Wing Extremism in the United States (Pre-Recorded)

• In Event: Attitudes toward Political Protest and Violence

Abstract

Law enforcement and political analysts have warned of a rise in far-right militant extremism ‎in the United States. But just how many Americans support or condone right-wing ‎extremism? Who are these people? And more importantly, how strong are the norms ‎that keep extremism in check? Building on research into public opinion on ‎militancy conducted in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we use an endorsement survey ‎experiment on a large, nationally representative sample fielded in October 2020 to measure support for militant right-wing extremism ‎in the United States. Our survey also includes direct questions about attitudes ‎toward right-wing militancy, which allows us to assess normative opposition to ‎political violence. We find that opposition to militancy is much weaker than is commonly assumed. Tolerance for right-wing militant extremism is strongly ‎correlated with xenophobia, racial resentment, white consciousness, misogyny, and consumption of right-wing ‎media. ‎We find that respondents who place a higher value on democratic institutions are more likely to oppose militancy. Finally, we show that while most Americans exhibit a strong norm against explicit extremist or militant rhetoric, fewer oppose militant extremist behavior.

Authors

• Layla Picard, University of Virginia

• Philip B. K. Potter, University of Virginia