After the shooting at former President Trump\u2019s campaign rally, many people rushed to say that “political violence has no place in our democracy.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s go even further and boldly say:\u00a0political nonviolence\u00a0is essential for democracy.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ties between nonviolence and democracy run deep. We know from the groundbreaking research of Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan<\/a> that even if a nonviolent movement fails to achieve its primary goals, it often leaves a more democratic society in its wake. On the other hand, violence swiftly destroys democracies, shoving them toward authoritarianism and “politics at the barrel of a gun.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Political violence has a terrible track record. It has spent centuries delivering and defending injustice, abuse, discrimination and destruction.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what should we do instead? Boldly and with vision, we should be building a culture of active nonviolence, including defining and implementing new standards of\u00a0political nonviolence.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n For 11 years, Campaign Nonviolence<\/a>\u00a0has been working to mainstream nonviolence and build a culture that implements nonviolent values, solutions, worldview and approaches. We have persevered in this work even as political violence has heightened \u2014 because we already know that more violence and continued inaction will not get us out of this mess. We need a profoundly different approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we want to have a politics where every voice feels safe and respected, where each citizen has a right to participate, and where no one will be harmed for their political beliefs, nonviolence needs to be both a state and an individual policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amidst the George Floyd Protests in 2020, Vox editor Ezra Klein wrote an essay,\u00a0“Imagining the nonviolent state<\/a>,” asking the thought-provoking question: \u201cWhat if nonviolence wasn\u2019t an inhuman standard demanded of the powerless, but an ethic upon which we reimagined the state?\u201d He goes on to explore new standards of policing, restorative justice and responding to protest movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a world of political nonviolence, we\u2019d see these kinds of changes: <\/p>\n\n\n\n What can you do to make this vision a reality? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Start talking about political nonviolence and the specific ways we uphold it.\u00a0Reach out to public officials, policy makers, police and activist groups with these ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Work with groups like\u00a0Meta Peace Teams<\/a>,\u00a0DC Peace Team<\/a> and\u00a0Joy To the Polls<\/a>\u00a0on election safety and keeping the polls safe for all voters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n