Domestic Terrorism: The Hidden Side of Political Violence
License
Cadmus Permanent Link
Full-text via DOI
ISBN
ISSN
1094-2939
Issue Date
Type of Publication
LC Subject Heading
Other Topic(s)
EUI Research Cluster(s)
Initial version
Published version
Succeeding version
Preceding version
Published version part
Earlier different version
Initial format
Author(s)
Citation
Annual Review of Political Science, 2009, 12, 31-49
Cite
SANCHEZ-CUENCA, Ignacio, DE LA CALLE, Luis, Domestic Terrorism: The Hidden Side of Political Violence, Annual Review of Political Science, 2009, 12, 31-49 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/16611
Abstract
This article reviews the literature on the onset and dynamics of domestic terrorism, with special emphasis on the interactions between terrorist organizations, the state, and society. Because this literature has often been based on case studies, we seek to impose some structure to its findings. We challenge the distinction between domestic and international terrorism, which truncates the sample of violence, and we show that the actor-sense of terrorism (violence carried out by underground organizations) is the most appropriate model for causal analysis. Terrorist organizations tend to emerge in developed countries in which the state is able to prevent the loss of control over and part of its territory Terrorists take advantage of the state's mistakes (when, for example, it is over-repressive or makes ineffective concessions) in order to boost their support. Terrorists cannot survive without some degree of support. Consequently, levels of violence and targets are determined by social constraints.