Violence against political actors at the grassroots level

• Applicant: Dr. Anne-Kathrin Kreft
• Subject Area: Political Science
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 557354949

This research project examines psychological and physical forms of violence against political actors at the grassroots level in Germany, i.e. against those individuals who engage in socio-political activities in the context of formal institutions but outside the realm of formal, representative politics. These are members of political parties who have never had a political mandate or office, members of party youth organizations, members of civil society organizations, and staff working for elected officials at regional and national level. The project examines three dimensions of violence against grassroots political actors: (1) targeting patterns (Who experiences what forms of violence, and are different sub-groups targeted in distinct ways?), (2) impacts on socio-political activity (How do direct and indirect experiences with violence affect the level and mode of socio-political activity, and are different sub-groups affected in distinct ways?), and (3) legitimation and delegitimation of violence against grassroots political actors among the German public (Under what conditions is violence against grassroots political actors condoned or condemned?). The project tackles these questions with a mixed-methods design that combines a large-N survey of grassroots political actors, qualitative interviews with grassroots political actors affected by violence, and a large-N survey with an embedded vignette experiment among the general public. A systematic investigation of who is most likely to experience politically motivated violence at the grassroots level, whose voices are most likely to be muted, and how public attitudes may reinforce or counteract these trends, has significant implications for the quality of democracy.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants