Read on Twitter
To make sense of what happened on January 6, here’s a round-up of some articles and podcasts that have warned about precisely such violence in the 2020 elections
1. This excellent @CrisisGroup analysis points to high political and racial polarization, emboldened armed groups, and an incumbent fueling divisions as most important risk factors https://www.crisisgroup.org/united-states/004-us-presidential-election-managing-risks-violence
2. This @CrisisGroup podcast w/ @RachelKleinfeld is great overall, but I especially liked her point on how the antiquated US electoral process creates an insane confluence of symbolic moments drawn out over months that can be used for mobilisation https://podcast.ausha.co/hold-your-fire/episode-9-can-the-u-s-avoid-an-election-crisis
3. In this @PoliticsInquiry episode, @jlynnmccoy talks about how pernicious polarization has led to violence and democratic breakdown in other countries, and why we should worry about it in the US https://www.politicsinquestion.com/episodes/what-can-we-learn-from-other-nations-about-pernicious-polarization-in-the-united-states
4. In a prescient piece, @pstanpolitics & @matanock note that when political elites endorse armed groups and governments fail to repress them, low-intensity violence for years to come is a real scenario (but let's hope the new admin will counteract that) https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-10-29/militarization-us-politics
5. On right-wing armed groups, @ThisAmerLife followed an armed group "watching the polls.” Of course, they found nothing but remained convinced there was massive fraud (thanks @abbey_st for alerting me to it) https://www.thisamericanlife.org/723/squeaker/act-one-25
6. Not a short piece or podcast, but work by @j_a_tucker @iBorzyskowski & some of my own w/ @aruggeri_eu @jessdisal finds that fraud - real OR perceived - is powerful for mobilising people to protests & even violence, especially when sore losers are given credibility.
I am relieved that after years of norm violations, Trump-incited mob violence targeting this symbolic place is the moral shock that leads the GOP to abandon him, but the cost is big. Even after losing, they gave him months to mislead voters that the election was stolen from them.
E.g. listen to this Daily episode, mainstream Republicans now believe this stuff. It did not have to be this way! I know I have missed other useful contributions, so please feel free to add. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/podcasts/the-daily/georgia-election-purdue-loeffler.html
