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How to Estimate Public Support for Political Violence and Why It Matters: Impact of Sampling, Engagement Checks, and Question Phrasing.

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Title: How to Estimate Public Support for Political Violence and Why It Matters: Impact of Sampling, Engagement Checks, and Question Phrasing.
Authors: Pape, Robert A1 (AUTHOR), Price, Christopher G2 (AUTHOR)
Source: Public Opinion Quarterly. Summer2026, Vol. 90 Issue 2, p451-477. 27p.
Subject Terms: *Public opinion, Political violence, Sampling errors, Acquisition of data, Democracy, Political systems
Geographic Terms: United States
Abstract: What is the true level of support for political violence in the United States? The answer to this question is extremely important to understanding the level of threat to American democracy, as well as how best to respond. Critics have argued that previous works by political scientists have drastically overstated the level of support for political violence, by 600 percent or more, due to disengaged respondents and poor question wording in surveys. Using probability panels, we conduct survey experiments to understand the impact of survey sampling methodology, respondent engagement, and question wording on the reported support for political violence in the United States. We find that disengagement is far less prevalent in probability panels, and that the effects of disengagement and question wording are less pronounced than in opt-in panels used by critics. Accordingly, policymakers and the general public have valid concerns about the magnitude of public support for violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Public Opinion Quarterly is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Public+Opinion+Quarterly%22">Public Opinion Quarterly</searchLink>. Summer2026, Vol. 90 Issue 2, p451-477. 27p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Public+opinion%22">Public opinion</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Political+violence%22">Political violence</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sampling+errors%22">Sampling errors</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Acquisition+of+data%22">Acquisition of data</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Democracy%22">Democracy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Political+systems%22">Political systems</searchLink>
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  Data: What is the true level of support for political violence in the United States? The answer to this question is extremely important to understanding the level of threat to American democracy, as well as how best to respond. Critics have argued that previous works by political scientists have drastically overstated the level of support for political violence, by 600 percent or more, due to disengaged respondents and poor question wording in surveys. Using probability panels, we conduct survey experiments to understand the impact of survey sampling methodology, respondent engagement, and question wording on the reported support for political violence in the United States. We find that disengagement is far less prevalent in probability panels, and that the effects of disengagement and question wording are less pronounced than in opt-in panels used by critics. Accordingly, policymakers and the general public have valid concerns about the magnitude of public support for violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Public Opinion Quarterly is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1093/poq/nfag002
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 27
        StartPage: 451
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Public opinion
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Political violence
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sampling errors
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Acquisition of data
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Democracy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Political systems
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      – SubjectFull: United States
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: How to Estimate Public Support for Political Violence and Why It Matters: Impact of Sampling, Engagement Checks, and Question Phrasing.
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              Text: Summer2026
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              Y: 2026
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