On the heels of the 2020 general election YouGov published a pretty dark poll. It found that 36% of Republicans and 33% Democrats said at times it’s justified to use violence to achieve their political goals. That figure was double its level when polled in 2019, and triple its levels from 2017. Dark stuff, indeed.
That poll was conducted before the events of Jan. 6, when a mob of disgruntled Donald Trump supporters broke into the U.S. Capitol Building. The riot claimed five lives. In the aftermath some historians went as far as to question if the United States was entering into a period when political violence might become commonplace.
To find out where Americans stand on the use of violence for political means, Fortune and SurveyMonkey polled 2,554 U.S. adults on Jan. 11 and 12.
We found that 5% of U.S. adults say violence can often be justified in order to advance political goals. Another 11% said it’s sometimes justified. Meanwhile 22% said it’s rarely justified, and 59% said it can never be justified.
There isn’t a huge partisan divide. Among Republicans, 15% said violence can often (5%) or sometimes (10%) be justified in order to advance political goals. Among Democrats, 12% said violence can often (4%) or sometimes (8%) be justified in order to advance political goals.
It is actually independent leaning voters who are the most supportive of political violence, with 26% either saying it’s often (6%) or sometimes (20%) justified.
Our findings show starkly less support for political violence than YouGov’s 2020 poll. One of our polls is either an outlier, or else support for political violence fell in recent months. If the latter is true, it might be attributed to the events of Jan. 6 or maybe the conclusion of the heated election.
*Methodology: The Fortune-SurveyMonkey poll was conducted among a national sample of 2,554 adults in the U.S. on Jan. 11 and 12. This survey’s modeled error estimate is plus or minus 3 percentage points. The findings have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography. Respondents were asked, “How often do you personally think violence can be justified in order to advance political goals?” Respondents could select from “can often be justified”; “can sometimes be justified”; “can rarely be justified”; or “can never be justified.”
