Rhetoric and Political Violence: Considering the Role of Neighborhood Context

• In Event: Elite Rhetoric

Abstract

The January 2021 storming of the United States Capitol was a singular example of political violence against American government. However, it was not completely unexpected. In our 2018 book, which linked the arrival of Tea Party lawmakers in Congress with the reactionary politics of Trump, we highlighted how the uncivil and racialized rhetoric Trump utilized before and throughout his time in office was preceded by a similar rhetorical style among Tea Party House members. Trump’s rhetoric, we reasoned, was an escalation of rhetorical trends, not an entirely new direction, and we predicted political violence might occur if the intensification of hostile rhetoric was to continue. While we were wrong to expect it would take heated rhetoric on both sides, we recognized the danger of elites wielding uncivil and intolerant rhetoric.

There is evidence that rhetoric can increase support for political violence in American politics. Violent metaphors, for example, have been shown to elicit violence against government, specifically among aggressive men. However, the extent to which uncivil and intolerant rhetoric contribute to political violence remains unclear. How political relevant attitudes or social context mitigate or magnify the relationship between uncivil and intolerant rhetoric and political violence is also unknown.

The presence of multiple white supremacist groups at the Capitol riot suggests that racial grievance played a significant role in the violence. We expect this is a generalizable phenomenon. Racial resentment increases the likelihood that uncivil rhetoric leads to political violence. Likewise, we hypothesize that social context influences the violence-inducing capacity of rhetorical intolerance. We expect neighborhood context and interpersonal contact (Allport 1954) to mitigate the violent effects of rhetorical incivility. Specifically, whites--regardless of partisan intensity—may be less (more) likely to respond to incendiary language from a political leader if they live in an integrated (segregated) community.

We investigate whether political incivility and intolerance increase support for political violence, considering the moderating roles of racial resentment and localized group conflict. We conduct a 2x2 survey experiment with a control group, manipulating both uncivil and intolerant language. Support for political violence is measured using a 5-item index (Kalmoe 2014). We estimate neighborhood context by linking respondent zip codes with data on neighborhood-level racial heterogeneity. We also measure levels of racial resentment, conflict avoidance, and trait aggression in respondents.

Authors

• Bryan Gervais, University of Texas at San Antonio

• Irwin L. Morris, North Carolina State University