State Absence, Vengeance, and the Logic of Vigilantism in Guatemala

Abstract

Across the world, citizens sidestep the state to punish offenses on their own. Such vigilantism can help communities provide order, yet it raises concerns about public accountability and the rights of the accused. While prior research has identified the structural correlates of vigilantism, an open question is in which cases citizens prefer vigilantism over conventional policing. To make sense of these preferences, we draw on two logics of punishment: state substitution and retribution. Using survey data from a conjoint experiment presented to over 9000 households across Guatemala, we find that preferences for vigilantism depend on how transgressive the crime is as well as how unlikely it is to be prosecuted by the state. Victim and perpetrator gender, as well as crime severity and profession of the perpetrator, affect whether people endorse vigilante punishment. These results ultimately raise concerns about the viability of "informal" forms of policing.

The “Dark Side” of Community Ties: Collective Action and Lynching in Mexico

“…The role of the state as weak, deficient, illegitimate, or even abusive is particularly important in this regard, as such factors provide opportunity and legitimacy to local communities to autonomously engage in social control (Taylor 1982). The acceptance of the practice of lynching and other forms of informal justice is directly related to the strength of the state (Dow et al 2024; Krakowski and Kursani 2023). State agents may even negotiate with lynch mobs, tolerate them, and actively legitimate occasional violence for the purpose of social control (Fuentes Díaz and González 2022; Gaby et al 2021).…”

“…Prior research has speculated about a link between community ties and lynching (Godoy 2006; Goldstein et al 2007; Smith 2019; Zizumbo-Colunga 2015, 2019), but this is the first study using original and fine-grained lynching participation and event data to examine this hypothesis. Unlike a growing body of research focusing on attitudes toward lynching (e.g., Dow et al 2024; Freire and Skarbek 2023; Nivette 2016; Wilke 2022), this study delves deeper by analyzing actual participation in lynching. Using support as a proxy for participation is limited, as it captures preferences but not decision-making (Agostini and van Zomeren 2021; Granovetter 1978).…”

“… 4. Several authors use the term vigilantism similarly to my understanding of lynching (e.g., Dow et al 2024; Smith 2019). …”