Violence, Elections, and Party Politics

As the United States and the countries of Western Europe have sought to promote democratic rule in those parts of the world that have not enjoyed the blessings of liberty, they have failed to consider an important factor. Competitive elections, the sine qua non of democratic government, often gives rise to serious bouts of political violence: mob riots, inter-party fighting, and internal wars. The essays collected in this volume evaluate the relationship between terrorist activity and electoral politics. Do democratic elections themselves undermine the development and stability of the democratic institutions the United States and its allies seek to promote? Under what conditions are democratic elections effective at bringing terrorist organizations into the political process, thereby quelling violence? When and how might terrorist organizations use democratic elections to foment violence?

This book was published as a special issue of Terrorism and Political Violence.

Mary Beth Altier is a postdoctoral research fellow at the International Center for the Study of Terrorism at The Pennsylvania State University.

Susanne Martin is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Leonard B. Weinberg is the Foundation Professor of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Reno.