After a shocking assassination attempt earlier this month against Donald Trump, rising political violence is once again in the news. Much of Thursday’s discussion focused on shifts in public attitudes toward political violence and the ways in which it has already eroded society. “Most of our data has shown that it’s very easy for leaders to reduce approval of violence,” Mason said. There’s a lot of power there.” Birch talked about the effectiveness in other countries of efforts to monitor and map hotspots of political electoral violence and then mobilize community leaders to encourage peace. He is the author of “Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence,” a guide to help people in communities across the country counter political violence.