Benjamin Franklin said that “those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” In other words, in a democratic system, limiting freedom for the sake of safety may not, in Franklin’s opinion, always be the best reaction to political violence or protest. But, is democracy the best way to address the challenges posed by political violence? Does the openness of a democratic society make it more susceptible to open protest and violence? And when it does occur, can democracies react in such a way so as to produce a favorable result? Or do more repressive and authoritarian systems lend themselves to more violence? Can those types of systems react in such a way as to produce favorable results?
