Quiz 4 Flashcards
Political Violence
Politically motivated violence outside of state control
What causes people to resort to violence?
Larger collective political struggle? Beyond state sovereignty.
International-Domestic, War-Peace, Law-Crime, become blurry lines
Specifically WHAT causes political violence? (3)
- Institutional
- Ideational
- Individual
Institutional Cause
State and Regimes, Capitalism and Communism, Culture and Religion. Institutions contain norms/values that encourage political violence or constrain human activity.
Ideational Cause
Having to do with ideas. Justify/promote violence. Shape worldview.
Individual Cause
Psychological or strategic factors that lead people to carry out violence.
What are the Forms of Political Violence?
Revolution
Terrorism (State-Sponsored terrorism)
Revolution Form
A public seizure of the state in order to overturn the existing government and regime.
Violence is not required but likely.
Expectations vs Results
Meeting expectations still can lead to revolution
Terrorism Form
The use of violence by non-state actors against civilians to achieve a political goal
State-Sponsored Terrorism
State sponsored non-state terrorist groups to expand their power by proxy and achieve foreign policy goals.
Civilian targets vs collateral
Nihilism
-Causes terrorism
A belief that all institutions and values are essentially meaningless and that the only redeeming value a person can embrace is violence
-Low success rate in politics
Something to remember!
Authoritarian governments have a lower risk of terrorism than democratic governments do.
General Revolution Theories
- Misery breeds revolt
- When states face an accumulation of difficulties
Misery breeds revolt
Change in a society that raises people’s expectations for a better life without providing the means for meeting those expectations.
When states face an accumulation of difficulties
When state faces economic or political issues, a resulting crisis can open the society to radical ideological change and mobilization
Structural Theories on Revolution
- States and Elites
- Loyalty of Army is crucial
- “Neo-patrimonial” states
States and Elites
- The state tries to extract resources from society and mobilize it.
- The state maintains elite-monopolized political institutions.
Neo-patrimonial states
Government is personal
Executive control based on elites support through informal systems of reward
Vulnerable to economic downturns
Patronage network may crumble
Internal collapse can lead to regime collapse
Peasant Uprising
Only successful if peasants have solidarity, numbers, and vulnerability of landlords.
Urban Uprising
Large masses of workers target obvious areas for political violence (state capitol, palaces, capital cities, etc.)
Urban residents are not isolated, ignorant, or disorganized
Two main grievances: Cost of food, availability of employment
Conditions where ethnic differences become laden with conflict
1) Ethnicizing bureacracy
2) Educational elite excluded from state apparatus
3) Unequal distribution of goods
Ethnicizing bureacracy
When a bureaucracy as an actor in state-building takes on a ethnic tint
Client Groups
In order to legitimize government power, bureaucracy and economy can be politicized by clientelism
Educational Elites
Ethnic prejudice is developed among members of the educated middle classes
- minority group sees themselves as disadvantaged
-sometimes a legacy of colonial practice
-integration and education allows ethnic minorities to become aware of their disadvantage
Causes of Mobilization
1 Ethnic lines overlap with socioeconomic lines
2 Ethnic status given at birth cannot be changed
3 The need for an identifying factor
4 Bodily impression left by public rituals (rituals, holidays, symbols)
Unequal Distribution of goods
State resources
Government officials treat their own ethnic group with preference
Not public benefit but collective goods attainable by those who belong to the ‘proper’ ethnic group
Unequal costs (taxes, regional appropriation)
All members become victims
State resources
territorial sovereignty, protection from arbitrary violence, social and legal security, political representation, financial redistribution, economic infrastructure, symbols of independence, and state power
Characteristics of Terrorism
- The use of violence
- Political objectives
- The intention of sowing fear in a target population
Terrorism by the UN, US, LoN, and KSA
The UN and the US more similar in definition, LoN very general and vague, KSA is centered around rejection of Islam or atheism against Islam, or questioning of kings, government, parties, organizations, etc.
Ethnic Heterogeneity
Ethnic density, defined as the proportion of first and second generation immigrants with 2 foreign-born parents. (Don’t understand this one)
State Building
Elites use ethnicity in this.
Non-state Actor Targets State Actor
Guerilla Warfare
State actor engages in political violence on non-state actors
War Crimes
