Elites and arbitrary power: ethical challenges and guiding principles for research with violent political actors

Many approaches to and recommendations for ethical research assume a power dynamic between the researcher and the researched that favours the researcher. When study participants include political elites however, the power dynamic is often reversed. This power differential in favour of political elites can render existing guidelines unhelpful or inappropriate, especially where such actors have individualised discretion over coercion and violence. We argue that paying particular attention to how political elites wield arbitrary power can help researchers navigate ethical challenges that arise when political elites are included in the study. We focus on three topics in particular: researchers' interactions with political elites outside of formal data collection, anticipating and reducing risks for non-elite study participants, and sharing and contextualising research findings with scholars and a general audience. In doing so, this paper contributes to a growing conversation on the thorny ethical challenges that come with studying violent political elites.