Author

James Piazza

James Piazza

James A. Piazza is Liberal Arts Professor of Political Science at Pennsylvania State University. His areas of research and teaching specialization include: Terrorism; Counterterrorism; Political Violence; Intrastate Conflict; and the politics of the Middle East and the Islamic World.

COMMENTARY

The ‘sore loser effect’: Rejecting election results can destabilize democracy, drive terrorism

By: - January 7, 2022

By James Piazza, Penn State An attendee at an October 2021 political rally hosted by right-wing activist Charlie Kirk asked: “How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?” The attendee was referring to the baseless allegation that Joe Biden stole the 2020 U.S. presidential election and that he unfairly denied […]

COMMENTARY

When politicians use hate speech, political violence increases

By: - September 29, 2020

Politicians deepen existing divides when they use inflammatory language, such as hate speech, and this makes their societies more likely to experience political violence and terrorism. That’s the conclusion from a study I recently did on the connection between political rhetoric and actual violence. President Donald Trump is not the only world leader who is […]