Original
Contesting repression in divided democracies: Can counternarratives reduce support for police violence?
Abstract
Abstract Democracies often struggle to contain police violence, which undermines the rule of law and reproduces inequality by targeting marginalized citizens. Yet, scholars have shown that repressive policing enjoys considerable public support. Focusing on Brazil, we demonstrate that attitudes toward police violence mirror polarization between left‐ and right‐wing voters, and investigate how competing narratives change attitudes toward police violence through multiple mechanisms. We argue that marginalized victims’ counternarratives can counteract police discourses justifying violence through perspective‐getting, enabling citizens to hear about the experiences of stigmatized groups. Using a nationwide survey experiment, we find that although police narratives increase endorsement of lethal violence, statements from victims’ mothers emphasizing innocence and disadvantage reduce support for police killings—even among right‐wing voters—by increasing empathy and reducing victim‐blaming. We demonstrate that, even in deeply unequal and polarized democracies where exclusionary attitudes align with entrenched ideological divides, counternarratives from marginalized groups can shape public attitudes toward injustices.
中文
在分裂的民主国家中抗争镇压：反叙事能否降低对警察暴力的支持？
摘要
摘要 民主国家常常难以遏制警察暴力，这种暴力破坏法治，并通过针对边缘化公民而再生产不平等。然而，学者们已表明，压制性警务享有相当程度的公众支持。本文以巴西为焦点，表明对警察暴力的态度反映了左翼与右翼选民之间的极化，并考察相互竞争的叙事如何通过多重机制改变对警察暴力的态度。我们认为，边缘化受害者的反叙事可以通过视角采择来抵消为暴力辩护的警察话语，使公民能够倾听被污名化群体的经历。通过一项全国性调查实验，我们发现，尽管警察叙事会增加对致命暴力的认可，但受害者母亲强调无辜与弱势处境的陈述会降低对警察杀戮的支持——即使在右翼选民中也是如此——其机制是增强同理心并减少受害者归因。我们表明，即使在高度不平等且极化的民主国家中，排斥性态度与根深蒂固的意识形态分歧相一致，来自边缘化群体的反叙事仍能塑造公众对不公正的态度。
关键词
警察暴力、巴西、反叙事、政治极化、调查实验、公众态度、同理心、受害者归因