Pipers Woerterbuch zur Politik

Authors: Nohlen
Summary: In about 670 words the entry identifies terrorism as a new phenomenon studied in political since beginning in the 1970s. It distinguishes between a revolting form by groups against the state and a repressive form by regimes themselves. Emphasis is placed on the first form as a political strategy against state authority, which is contrasted with guerilla warfare. While the latter strategy aims to capture space, terrorists are mainly interested in shocking the public and changing their thinking about state power, and they intend to intimidate state authorities so that those react with excessive repression. A discussion of the social and psychological processes within terrorist groups and their relationship to society over time concludes that terrorist movements detach themselves from less radical political movements over time and become extremely inward-oriented. The entry offers some explanations for the occurrence of terrorist movements, but argues that a set of convincing hypotheses is pending due to the lack of empirical studies.