NCJ Number
130874
Date Published
1990
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Terrorism is discussed in terms of two differing analytic approaches and the fundamentally different concepts of community on which they are based.
Abstract
The "Unjust War" model regards terrorism as a form of warfare in which fear is spread by attacks on noncombatants, contrary to the rules of war. Thus, harm to civilians is an essential feature of terrorism rather than just a terrorist tactic. The second model views terrorism as a form of political crime which not only harms citizens but also bypasses constitutional procedures and thereby threatens the legitimate authority responsible for protecting citizens. The Unjust War model regards the community as a group living a common life in accordance with its own rules, but which normally needs a ruler to enforce them. In contrast, the Political Crime model rests on the Hobbesian view that a group can live a common life only if governed by rules that are imposed upon individuals by threat of force. The communitarian conception offers a more useful approach than the Hobbesian view in that it suggests the need to reexamine relations with those who seek to wage war against the existing government and provides for the possibility that civil strive may actually promote or restore a society's cohesion. Notes