Experience with Hostility Increases Worry Among Local Officials, Negatively Impacting Willingness to Engage in Political Processes

Jan. 13, 2025

Analysis of BDI’s Survey of Local Elected Officials on Threats and Harassment

Over the past two years, in partnership with CivicPulse, BDI has conducted quarterly surveys with local elected officials on their experiences of threats and harassment. These quarterly surveys allow us to identify spikes or shifts in hostility, monitor important trends in threats and harassment, and contextualize these trends in the larger political environment.

In each survey round, local elected officials are asked about their personal experiences with hostility, their concerns about hostility, and their willingness to engage in certain political activities – like running for re-election or attending events – in the future. The survey captures not only the presence but also the intensity of concerns, allowing us to assess the impact of even low levels of worry on democratic processes.

This analysis looks at over 4,000 survey responses from the last two years to explore both the contributors to, and effects of, worries about hostility. It additionally investigates whether, and to what degree, demographic factors and personal experiences with hostility are connected to the severity of worries about hostility, as well as their links to willingness to engage in political behaviors such as running for re-election or working on controversial topics.

Read it here

Graph showing levels of severe worry among officials by quarter