Amid a volatile election season, the report ‘We Want You To Be A Proud Boy’: How Social Media Facilitates Political Intimidation and Violence outlines the steps social media companies like Facebook, TikTok and Telegram can take to reduce their contribution to increasing levels of political intimidation and violence across the U.S. and around the world.  […]

As shocking events in the United States and elsewhere show, political violence is real. The scope of the threat is unclear, as are the motivations that drive people to harm others they disagree with and the effects of such violence on the outcomes of elections and the health of democratic institutions. While media reports convey […]

As part of the Violence, Politics, & Democracy initiative, HFG will host a series of live and virtual discussions with scholars and practitioners to advance understanding of antidemocratic threats in the United States and other mature democracies.

On Oct. 17, HFG hosted a virtual discussion with Paul M. Barrett, author of ‘We Want You To Be A Proud Boy’: How Social Media Facilitates Political Intimidation and Violence, who discussed the report and steps that social media companies can take to reduce their contribution to increasing levels of political intimidation and violence across the U.S. and around the world. 

Thomas Main, a professor of public affairs at Baruch College in New York, has been tracking illiberalism in American politics for years. He spoke with Greg Berman, the Distinguished Fellow of Practice at The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, about the roots of polarization in America. While he acknowledges the existence of some movements on the left of the political spectrum that meet the definition of “illiberalism,” most of Main’s energies are devoted to studying extremist right-wing political thinking. What he finds is sobering.

“The roots of racism run deep in this country. This means that the potential audience for illiberal racialist movements is much deeper than the potential audience for anarchism and communism.’” – Thomas Main

The year 2024 has been dubbed “the global election year,” with more than 60 countries, representing half of the world’s population, going to the polls this year. Over the last decade, political scientists, journalists, and other observers have noted a rise in dissatisfaction with democracy in many mature democratic systems and an attendant rise in […]

This is the first panel of a three-part series titled “Global Perspectives on Gender-Based Violence”. Read more about the full series here. With examples from El Salvador and Ethiopia, this international panel discussed how government and non-state actors can formulate humanitarian responses to conflict-related sexual violence. They also suggested new areas for research in the fields […]

This is the second panel of a three-part series titled “Global Perspectives on Gender-Based Violence”. Read more about the full series here. Violence against women increased markedly during COVID-19, prompting the United Nations to call it a “shadow pandemic.” The phenomenon was seen worldwide. Years after state-mandated lockdowns, intimate partner violence levels remain elevated in many […]

This is the third panel of a three-part series titled “Global Perspectives on Gender-Based Violence”. Read more about the full series here. The legitimization and legalization of sex work are much-debated topics in countries around the world. From issues of women’s agency to concerns over human trafficking and exposure to violence, this conversation examined how […]

Projecting Crime Rates and Incarceration Impact in the US In 2017, the Foundation commissioned three criminologists to create statistical models for forecasting US crime rates. HFG also asked them to examine the impact on crime of potential policy shifts intended to reduce the US’s high rate of incarceration.  James Austin, Todd Clear, and Richard Rosenfeld […]