Does crime breed authoritarianism? Crime exposure, democratic decoupling and political attitudes in Brazil

Juan Masullo, Krzysztof Krakowski and Davide Morisi
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Juan Masullo: Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan, Italy; and Institute of Political Science, Leiden University, the Netherlands
Krzysztof Krakowski: Department of Political Economy, King’s College London, UK
Davide Morisi: Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Journal of Peace Research, 2025, vol. 62, issue 5, 1393-1410

Abstract: How does crime influence democratic attitudes and behaviors? Existing research offers conflicting answers: some argue that crime fosters antidemocratic preferences, while others suggest it increases democratic engagement. To reconcile this paradox, we conceptualize democracy as a multidimensional system with distinct components that can be decoupled. We distinguish between different (anti)democratic preferences tied to core democratic principles and argue that contextual exposure to crime may heighten support for undemocratic enforcement measures without eroding commitment to procedural democracy. To test this, we conducted a large online survey ( N  = 3108) in Brazil – a country profoundly affected by various forms of crime – using two embedded experimental protocols. Our findings show that crime exposure increases support for unlawful enforcement practices, such as police overreach and vigilante justice, while leaving attitudes toward military coups, executive aggrandizement and support for democracy as the best form of government largely unaffected. Understanding this nuanced relationship is especially important in contexts where crime is pervasive and politically instrumentalized. That exposure to crime leads citizens to tolerate breaches of the rule of law in the name of public safety is deeply concerning. Yet, our results offer cautious optimism: support for undemocratic enforcement does not necessarily undermine broader democratic commitments.

Keywords: Exposure to crime; democratic preferences; democratic backsliding; public security; Brazil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:joupea:v:62:y:2025:i:5:p:1393-1410

DOI: 10.1177/00223433251347792

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