Chapter 12 Political Violence Political violence as an approach is recognized by some class approach and seen as the breakdown of politics by others Pluralist Violence the use of physical force usually with the purpose of injuring or damaging the Political Violence use of actual physical violence or very serious threats of such target of the violence violence to achieve political goals Political Society Individuals accept the authority of the state and cede to the sate a monopoly over the legitimate use of violence sacrificing their own right to use it People accept a social contract that changes violence from an prima ratio first resort to ultima ratio final resort Types of Political Violence Specified through the source of the violence and the target of the violence Source Individual Group State Target Individual Group Crime Terrorism Nation Based Conflict Class Conflict Order Maintenance Establishment Violence State Riots Rebellion Separatist Violence Coup Revolution War State Violence against Individuals or Groups Usually justified because the state has monopoly over legitimate use of violence State often calls it s violence order maintenance states agents act as security forces judges and executors of punishment when individuals or groups violate society s legal system Establishment violence the state s excessive reliance on force and oppressive laws Rummel Idea of democide murder by government Death toll from establishment violence is the highest of anywhere Individual violence against an individual Ordinary crime most can be grouped into this category rape murder assault burglary robbery If it is a personal problem can happen between political figures Group violence against an individual Terrorism premeditated politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub national groups or clandestine agents Typically happens in countries with modest levels of political freedom as opposed to substantial or minimal There are 5 main rationales for Terrorism Attempt to punish an existing state for perceived grievances Attack a domestic group whom they wish to subordinate or retaliate against for previous offenses To gain international publicity for the group s cause Secure financial resources for the groups political activities or may demand release of prisoners Promote revolution Terrorists are becoming more globalized but also have smaller factions that are loosely connected with others This makes it harder to destroy the networks An increasing proportion have stopped putting limits on how much destruction they are willing to impose and are more willing to die It s important to note that one person s terrorist is another s freedom fighter Group Violence against a Group Nation Based Violence Use of force between identity groups Sometimes in attempts to create their own sovereign state Genocide When group violence results in murder of many members of one ethnic group by its rival can be establishment violence when the state partakes in genocide Class Conflict can lead to intergroup violence especially when linked to an ethnic or religious cleavage Individual or Group Violence against the state Riots and Rebellion Riots spontaneous and relatively disorganized group violence Often triggered by a specific incident Rebellion more frequent premeditated and widespread violence involving more people Many involved have lost faith that they system will respond to their problems Relates to Huntington s description of political decay Separatist Violence to achieve substantial or total political autonomy from the existing political system Civil War Happens when a significant proportion of the population in a region actively supports a separatist movement and political violence emerges on a large scale Coup When the top leader or part of the leadership group is replaced by violent means or the explicit threat of violence Common in systems that don t have a organized way for leadership succession Revolution a rapid ad fundamental transformation of the state organization and the class structure Strategies for revolution Terrorism selective acts of violence usually by small organized cells of political activists that lack sufficient membership and resources to sustain a direct struggle against the existing state Revolution from Above that is taking over the cities first and then imposing on the rural areas Guerilla War long protracted campaign of political violence against the state from rural bases Typically used in third world countries Democratic Revolution legal generally nonviolent political action is effectively mounted to achieve a fundamental transformation of the political system Such as velvet revolutions Conditions for revolution substantial inequality Aristotle and Karl Marx Can lead to a disparity between expected values and actual values They look like an inverted J which gave rise to the J curve theory Conflicting elites deep ethnic divisions rapid economic growth short history as an autonomous state divisive interventions by international actors rapid population growth and social mobilization Use of force Between states Limited forms of violence blockade state sponsored terrorism single use of force bombing raid clash brief engagement and low intensity conflict a group uses conventional weapons in a rival s territory in a sporadic and prolonged manner that does not involve full scale military conflict War Interstate violence that is sustained and organized and usually involves hostilities between the regular military forces of the states Karl von Clauswitz war is regarded as nothing but a continuation of political activity by other means Robert Audrey war has been the most successful cultural tradition Most of the recent major conflicts are not conventional war direct sustained confrontation of the military forces of two or more states within a defined state on the soil of one of the combatants Many contemporary conflicts are placed into a broader category of Major armed Conflicts Use of armed force between 2 or more gov ts or one gov t and at least one organized group At least 1000 battle related deaths a year Conflict over control over gov t or territory In general war is starting to shift where more civilians are being killed than military deaths What causes war Some general associations with war Newer nations are more likely to initiate war War is more likely in states that have effectively socialized their citizens to accept the gov ts actions on nat