Does democracy decrease fear of terrorism?

Fear is an integral part of terrorism. Fighting fear can thus be a crucial part of counterterrorist policies. In the case of terrorism, citizens look to the state for protection. Yet, most studies of terrorist fear emphasize individual-level factors. We lack studies that link fear to features of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Christensen, Dag Arne (Author) ; Aars, Jacob 1964- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2019
In: Terrorism and political violence
Year: 2019, Volume: 31, Issue: 3, Pages: 615-631
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Summary:Fear is an integral part of terrorism. Fighting fear can thus be a crucial part of counterterrorist policies. In the case of terrorism, citizens look to the state for protection. Yet, most studies of terrorist fear emphasize individual-level factors. We lack studies that link fear to features of the state, especially whether democratic states are capable of reducing fear among its citizens. Our study aims to fill part of this research gap by asking whether democratic government reduces or increases fear of terrorism. We find that there is substantial cross-country variance in citizens’ fear of terrorism. The results suggest that fear is more widespread among citizens in non-democratic countries compared to citizens in democratic countries. Actual exposure to terrorist attacks has no impact on citizens’ fear of terrorism when we account for whether the country is a democracy or not. Hence, democratic government displays resilience towards fear mongering.
Item Description:Gesehen am 22.06.2023
Published online: 01 Mar 2017
Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 15-16
Physical Description:Diagramme
ISSN:1556-1836
DOI:10.1080/09546553.2017.1287700