This article offers a systematic, longitudinal and cross-national assessment of the constraint democratic institutions place on domestic political violence. It formulates two structural equation models which allows for the examination of the relative contribution of formal institutions and political culture as sources of constraint on political violence. Institutionalized opportunities for democratic participation significantly reduce political violence; however, these institutions only realize their full potential when embedded within a deliberative political culture. This article suggests that when oppositional groups view democratic participation as meaningful, and state elites engage with their claims, these groups are inclined to behave as radical democrats rather than violent extremists.
AbadieAlberto (2006) Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism. American Economic Review96(2): 50–56.
2.
BabstDean V (1964) Elective Governments: A force for peace. Wisconsin Sociologist3(1): 9–14.
3.
BernhardMichaelHickenAllenReenockChristopherLindbergStaffan I. (2020) Parties, civil society, and the deterrence of democratic defection. Studies in Comparative International Development55(1): 1–26.
4.
BriggsRachel (2010) Hearts and minds and votes: The role of democratic participation in countering terrorism. Democratization17(2): 272–285.
5.
ButerbaughKevin NCalinCostelMarchant-ShapiroTheresa (2017) Predicting Revolt: Fragility indexes and the level of violence and instability in the Arab spring. Terrorism and Political Violence29(3): 483–508.
6.
CaldeiraTheresa PRHolstonJames (1999) Democracy and Violence in Brazil. Comparative Studies in Society and History41(4): 691–729.
7.
CinalliManlioGiugniMarco (2011) Institutional Opportunities, Discursive Opportunities and the Political Participation of Migrants in European Cities. In MoralesLauraGiugniMarco (eds) Social Capital, Political Participation and Migration in Europe: Making Multicultural Democracy Work?London: Palgrave Macmillan, 43–62.
8.
ClarkDavid HTimothyNordstrom (2005) Democratic Variants and Democratic Variance: How domestic constraints shape interstate conflict. Journal of Politics67(1): 250–270.
9.
CollierPaulRohnerDominic (2008) Democracy, Development, and Conflict. Journal of the European Economic Association6(2–3): 531–540.
DonzelotJacques (2006) Quand la ville se défait. Paris: Essaie.
12.
DyrstadKarinHillesundSolveig (2020) Explaining Support for Political Violence: Grievance and perceived opportunity. Journal of Conflict Resolution64(9): 1724–1753.
13.
EckKristineHultmanIisa (2007) One-sided Violence Against Civilians in War: Insights from new fatality data. Journal of Peace Research44(2): 233–246.
14.
ElmanMiriamWarnerCarolyn M (2008) Democracy, Security, and Religious Political Parties: A framework for analysis. Asian Security4(1): 1–22.
15.
FearonJames D (2004) Why do Some Civil Wars Last So Much Longer than Other?Journal of Peace Research41(3): 275–301.
16.
FleußDannicaHelbigKaroline (2021) Measuring Nation States’ Deliberativeness: Systematic challenges, methodological pitfalls, and strategies for upscaling the measurement of deliberation. Political Studies69(2): 307–325.
17.
FungArchon (2003) Associations and Democracy: Between theories, hopes, and realities. Annual Review of Sociology29(1): 515–539.
18.
GleditschNills Peter (2020) Toward a Social-Democratic Peace?Ethics & International Affairs34(1): 67–75.
19.
GleditschSkrede KristianRuggeriAndrea (2010) Political Opportunity Structures, Democracy, and Civil War. Journal of Peace Research47(3): 299–310.
20.
GurrTed Robert (2015) Why Men Rebel. New York, NY: Routledge.
21.
HansenHolley ENemethStephen CMausleinJacob A (2020) Ethnic Political Exclusion and Terrorism: Analysing the local conditions for violence. Conflict Management and Peace Science37(3): 280–300.
22.
HaydukLeslie ALittvayLevente (2012) Should Researchers Use Single Indicators, Best Indicators, or Multiple Indicators in Structural Equation Models?BMC Medical Research Methodology12: 1–17.
23.
HegreHåvardBernhardMichaelTeorellJan (2020) Civil Society and the Democratic Peace. Journal of Conflict Resolution64(1): 32–62.
24.
Homer-DixonThomasBlittJessica (1998) Ecoviolence: Links among Environment, Population, and Security. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
25.
HuLi-tzeBentlerPeter M (1999) Cutoff Criteria for Fit Indexes in Covariance Structure Analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal6(1): 1–55.
26.
KeaneJohn (2004) Violence and Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
27.
KeenDavid (2005) Liberalization and Conflict. International Political Science Review26(1):73–89.
28.
KekicLaza (2007) The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Index of Democracy. The Economist21: 1–11.
29.
KitscheltHerbert P (1986) Political Opportunity Structures and Political Protest: Anti-nuclear movements in four democracies. British Journal of Political Science16(1): 57–85.
30.
KleinfeldRachel (2021) The Rise of Political Violence in the United States. Journal of Democracy32(4): 160–76.
31.
NiemeyerSimon JDryzekJohn S (2007) The Ends of Deliberation: Metaconsensus and intersubjective rationality as deliberative ideals. Swiss Political Science Review13(4): 497–526.
32.
OppKarl-DieterRoehlWolfgang (1990) Repression, Micromobilization, and Political Protest. Social Forces69(2): 521–547.
33.
ØstbyGudrun (2013) Inequality and Political Violence: A review of the literature. International Area Studies Review16(2): 206–231.
34.
PantucciRaffaello (2010) A contest to democracy? How the UK has responded to the current terrorist threat. Democratization17(2): 251–271.
35.
PemsteinDanieleMarquardtKyle LTzelgovEitamWangYi-tingKrusellJoshuaMiriFarhad (2018) The V-Dem Measurement Model: Latent Variable Analysis for Cross-National and Cross-Temporal Expert-Coded Data. V-Dem Working Paper 2018:21. Gothenburg: University of Gothenburg.
36.
SassJensenDryzekJohn S (2014) Deliberative Cultures. Political Theory42(1): 3–25.
37.
SchwarzmantelJohn (2010) Democracy and Violence: A theoretical overview. Democratization17(2): 217–234.
38.
SchwarzmantelJohn (2011) Democracy and Political Violence. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
39.
StewartFrances (2000) Crisis Prevention: Tackling horizontal inequalities. Development Studies28(3): 245–262.
40.
TarrowSidney G (2011) Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
41.
TaydasZeynepJasonEniaPatrickJames (2011) Why Do Civil Wars Occur? Another look at the theoretical dichotomy of opportunity versus grievance. Review of International Studies37(5): 2627–2650.
42.
TillyCharles (2004) Contention and Democracy in Europe, 1650–2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
43.
VilligerCarole (2013) Political Violence: Switzerland, a special case?Terrorism and Political Violence25(5): 672–687.
44.
WhitePeter BDraganaVidovicBelenGonzalezKristianGleditsch SkredeCunninghamDavid E (2015) Non-Violence as a Weapon of the Resourceful: From claims to tactics in mobilisation. Mobilization20(4): 471–491.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
