Public Opinion and Support for Democracy in the Shadow of Militarized Violence: The Case of Armenia

• In Event: Memories and Narratives of War: Public Opinion and Grassroots Interpretation of Violence in Authoritarian Settings

Abstract

How does the population residing in the borderland zones make sense of the paradigm of entrenched insecurity and what are its implications for individual social and political preferences, especially, following escalations of violence? Using the case study of Armenia, this paper draws from an original survey and rich ethnographic data to argue that border populations that are subjected to violence are more likely to exhibit authoritarian preferences, whilst also acting as a swing population under certain conditions. The paper also examines the variance in responses to and assessment of militarized violence in the border and non-border regions.

Author

• Jane Kitaevich, U of Michigan