Political Violence and Violence Against Institutions

Political violence has historically been a means of gaining and exerting control over peoples, governments, and nations. Today there is a new and rising global trend in which politicians, authorities, partisans, protesters, ethnic groups, minorities, and—more broadly—citizens and institutions are increasingly targeted. The phenomenon has been addressed through a range of classical, historical, and contemporary explanations, yet new patterns and cases continue to emerge worldwide: from assassination attempts against prominent leaders to the detention of one nation's officials by another in disregard of domestic and international law. At the same time, there are growing concerns about deepening polarization and the erosion of democratic regimes.

This session seeks to gather experiences from across the world in order to build a stronger interpretive framework for understanding political violence. We approach the contemporary problem broadly, as encompassing attacks on institutions, rules, and people, including assassination attempts and harassment directed at public authorities by extremist, criminal, and terrorist organizations. In environments marked by extreme polarization, political violence is still deployed as a tool to confront and destroy opposing parties—whether to seize power or, at times, to dismantle democratic institutions altogether.

We invite papers presenting diverse cases and scenarios of political violence around the world, and we encourage authors to discuss commonalities, interpretations, explanations, and possible strategies for preventing and eradicating the problem. Selected papers will be considered for publication. Submissions must follow the guidelines of the ISA and RC29.