Auyero (2007:18) cites research by Steven Wilkinson that establishes a link between electoral competition and violence: where political leaders have an electoral incentive to stop violence, because potential targets are swing voters in close races, they do so; where competition is low, they will allow or encourage violence. Auyero sees his own work broadly agreeing with this.
Auyero (2007:33): sees specialists in violence, directed by political actors, playing an important role in spreading violence. “The genesis of many episodes of collective violence should be located in the area where the actions of political entrepreneurs and those of specialists in violence (people who control the means of inflicting damage on persons and objects) meet and mesh.”
Auyero (2007:32): uses the idea of a “gray zone” where there are no simple dichotomies and “extraordinary” political violence and “normal” politics are actually closely intertwined. This is “a murky area where normative boundaries dissolve, where state actors and political elites promote and/or actively tolerate and/or participate in damage-making.”