Protest Policing and Political Dynamics: Violent Repression in Democratic Argentina

Abstract

This paper integrates perspectives from subnational political dynamics, social movements, and police studies to examine how police responses to protest events are shaped by political considerations alongside the specific characteristics of the protests themselves. Drawing on newspaper accounts and in-depth interviews, the study analyzes variations in police responses to protests in Argentina between 1997 and 2007-a period marked by widespread social unrest and public demonstrations. The findings suggest that, in this context, police repression and protest management were influenced not only by the nature of the protests but also by broader political decisions and entrenched illiberal structures (Behrend and Whitehead, 2017). While these dynamics are particularly evident in Argentina's federal system and history of contentious politics, they may also provide insights into broader patterns of protest policing in other contexts.