Title: Terrorism Definition - Criminal Justice - IresearchNet
Headings: Terrorism Definition
Terrorism Definition
Content: The connection between terrorism and political goals is related to the perceived illegitimacy of political violence. A Western-style democracy is considered to provide an alternative to violence as an agent of political change, with the state viewed as sole custodian of the monopoly of legitimate force. In this argument political violence against the state is more apt to be termed ”terrorism” than is political violence on the part of the state. However, this is not universally accepted to be the case. Totalitarian regimes such as those that once existed in Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Stalinist Russia, as well as, more recently, the military dictatorships that previously ruled some South American countries and emerging African nations all used oppressive measures that can be described as state-sponsored terrorism. The literature identifies state sponsors of terrorism to include, but not limited to, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and North Korea. Hoffman (1998, 25) contends that ”such usages are generally termed ‘terror’ in order to distinguish that phenomenon from ‘terrorism,’ which is understood to be violence committed by non-state entities.” Mark Burgess (2004) argues that ”such a state-centric reading is Western in outlook, and would probably be questioned by those non-state actors who regard themselves as politically disenfranchised.” The term ”terrorism” may bestow illegitimacy on individuals or groups acting for a cause; it can also confer legitimacy on the governments combating it and their methods.