This report from Salzburg Global’s Polarization and Violent Threats to Democratic Systems program helps identify ways to reduce the threat of political violence and address the dangers that polarization and political violence present to democratic systems.

The report suggests that the greatest dangers to democratic systems emerge when full democracies shift toward “hybrid democracies,” i.e., systems with democratic structures but marked by dysfunction, identity struggles, and intense forms of political competition that undermine democratic processes. Hybrid democracies are particularly susceptible to political violence because they often exhibit violence or the threat of retribution, recrimination, and violence as tools to manage deep-rooted conflicts over identity and governance and to dismantle the accountability mechanisms associated with thriving democratic societies.

How these threats will evolve and what the repercussions for democracy may be are not yet clear. What is clear, however, is that understanding these threats and knowing how to address them is critical to the future of democratic societies today.

Read or download the report (PDF)