Violence begets violence: Why states should not lethally repress popular protest

Abstract

State repression committed upon political opposition is one of the most commonly reoccurring events in the age of the nation state. A popular question has been whether repression increases or decreases mobilisation during periods of social conflict. In this study, I demonstrate that when repression is aimed at large social movements, regardless of movement strategy and characteristics, repression will, on average, increase dissident mobilisation. These effects are even greater when the movement seeks regime change and is highly threatening. Statistical analysis gives support to my argument which concurrently raises important policy-oriented questions regarding civil resistance and governmental human rights practices.

Keywords:

• state repression
• social conflict
• human rights

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Alexei Anisin received his PhD in 2016 in the Department of Government at the University of Essex.

Notes

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