Family Repression and Political Mobilization Across Regime Types

How does state repression shape political participation in the long run? Existing studies offer mixed findings, making it difficult to draw generalizable conclusions. I argue that the effects of repression depend on both mode of participation and regime type. I develop a two-channel framework in which repression increases political activism while also shaping beliefs about institutional responsiveness. These channels yield distinct predictions: repression should increase non-institutional participation across regimes, but its effects on voting and institutional trust should diverge between democracies and autocracies. I test these claims using survey data from nearly 30 post-communist countries. Individuals with a family history of repression are more likely to engage in contentious politics, like protest, regardless of regime type. By contrast, repression is associated with higher levels of voting and institutional trust in democracies but lower levels in autocracies. These findings help reconcile conflicting evidence on the long-term political consequences of repression.