Post-election riots and the dilemmas of democratic policing: recent experience in the United States and Brazil
Despite significant differences between policing in the United States and Brazil, the post-election riots in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, and in Brasília on January 8, 2023, followed similar trajectories. In both cases supporters of the defeated presidential incumbent broke into and ransack...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Policing and society
Year: 2025, Volume: 35, Issue: 4, Pages: 512-527 |
| Online Access: |
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| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Summary: | Despite significant differences between policing in the United States and Brazil, the post-election riots in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, and in Brasília on January 8, 2023, followed similar trajectories. In both cases supporters of the defeated presidential incumbent broke into and ransacked key government buildings, hoping to overturn the results of the election. In both cases the initial response by the police was inadequate, but the police eventually dispelled the rioters, and the new president took office. Comparing the events of January 6 and January 8 highlights three tensions associated with the policing of democratic societies in an era marked by a global upswing in populist politics: the need to calibrate the response to violent political protest, avoiding both overreaction and underreaction; the tension between two different understandings what it means for the police to be loyal to democracy; and the difficulty of connecting the police with the wider society while protecting against infiltration and cooptation by antidemocratic groups. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-2728 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/10439463.2024.2399109 |