Editing Terrorism (section)

== Democracy and domestic terrorism ==
Terrorism is most common in nations with intermediate political freedom, and it is least common in the most democratic nations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/11.04/05-terror.html |title=Freedom squelches terrorist violence: Harvard Gazette Archives |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919050732/http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/11.04/05-terror.html |archive-date=September 19, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~.aabadie.academic.ksg/povterr.pdf |title=Freedom squelches terrorist violence: Harvard Gazette Archives |access-date=December 28, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221053220/http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~.aabadie.academic.ksg/povterr.pdf |archive-date=December 21, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~.aabadie.academic.ksg/povterr.pdf |title=Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism |year=2004 |access-date=December 28, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221053220/http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~.aabadie.academic.ksg/povterr.pdf |archive-date=December 21, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://titan.iwu.edu/~econ/uer/articles/kevin_goldstein.pdf |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20070614004845/http://titan.iwu.edu/~econ/uer/articles/kevin_goldstein.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 14, 2007 |title=Unemployment, Inequality and Terrorism: Another Look at the Relationship between Economics and Terrorism |year=2005 |access-date=December 28, 2008}}</ref>

Some examples of terrorism in non-democratic nations include [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]] in Spain under [[Francisco Franco]] (although the group's activities increased sharply after Franco's death),<ref name="tws11janfjlk">{{cite news |title=Basque Terrorist Group Marks 50th Anniversary with New Attacks |quote=Europe's longest-enduring terrorist group. This week, ETA (the initials stand for Basque Homeland and Freedom in Euskera, the Basque language) |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=July 31, 2009 |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1913931,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804074643/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1913931,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 4, 2009|access-date= January 11, 2010}}</ref> the [[Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists]] in pre-war [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]],<ref>[[Timothy Snyder]]. [http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/feb/24/a-fascist-hero-in-democratic-kiev A fascist hero in democratic Kiev] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029211526/http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/feb/24/a-fascist-hero-in-democratic-kiev |date=October 29, 2015 }}. New York Review of Books. February 24, 2010</ref> the [[Shining Path]] in Peru under [[Alberto Fujimori]],<ref name="tws11janaawsw">{{cite news |title=Shining Path |quote=The Shining Path, a faction of Peruvian militants, has resurfaced in the remote corners of the Andes. The war against the group, which took nearly 70,000 lives, supposedly ended in 2000.&nbsp;... In the 1980s, the rebels were infamous for atrocities like planting bombs on donkeys in crowded markets, assassinations and other terrorist tactics. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 18, 2009 |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/shining_path/index.html |access-date=January 11, 2010 |first=Simon |last=Romero |archive-date=January 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128231325/http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/shining_path/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Kurdistan Workers Party]] when [[Turkey]] was ruled by military leaders and the [[African National Congress|ANC]] in South Africa.<ref name="tws11jangvdf">{{cite news |title=1983: Car bomb in South Africa kills 16 |quote=The outlawed anti-apartheid group the African National Congress has been blamed for the attack&nbsp;... He said the explosion was the "biggest and ugliest" terrorist incident since anti-government violence began in South Africa 20 years ago. |publisher=BBC |date=May 20, 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/20/newsid_4326000/4326975.stm |access-date=January 11, 2010 |archive-date=October 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011231304/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/20/newsid_4326000/4326975.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to Boaz Ganor, "Modern terrorism sees the liberal democratic state, in all its variations, as the perfect launching pad and a target for its attacks. Moreover, some terrorist organizations—particularly Islamist-jihadist organizations—have chosen to cynically exploit democratic values and institutions to gain power and status, promote their interests, and achieve internal and international legitimacy".<ref name=":2" /> Jihadist militants have shown an ambivalent view towards democracy, as they both exploit it for their ends and oppose it in their ideology. Various quotes from jihadist leaders note their disdain for democracy and their efforts to undermine it in favor of Islamic rule.<ref name=":2" /> Democracies, such as Japan, the United Kingdom, the [[United States]], [[Israel]], [[Indonesia]], [[India]], [[Spain]], [[Germany]], [[Italy]] and the [[Philippines]], have all experienced domestic terrorism.

While a democratic nation espousing [[civil liberties]] may claim a sense of higher moral ground than other regimes, an act of terrorism within such a state may cause a dilemma: whether to maintain its civil liberties and thus risk being perceived as ineffective in dealing with the problem; or alternatively to restrict its civil liberties and thus risk delegitimizing its claim of supporting civil liberties.<ref name="tws11janetrr">{{cite news |first=Rick |last=Young |title=PBS Frontline: 'Spying on the Home Front' |quote=...&nbsp;we and Frontline felt that it was important to look more comprehensively at the post-9/11 shift to prevention and the dilemma we all now face in balancing security and privacy. |publisher=PBS: Frontline |date=May 16, 2007 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/05/03/DI2007050301142.html |access-date=January 11, 2010 |archive-date=March 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324184615/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/05/03/DI2007050301142.html |url-status=live }}</ref> For this reason, [[homegrown terrorism]] has started to be seen as a greater threat, as stated by former CIA Director Michael Hayden.<ref name="Hayden">{{cite news |first=Jordy |last=Yager |title=Former intel chief: Homegrown terrorism is a devil of a problem |newspaper=thehill.com |date=July 25, 2010 |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/167252-former-intel-chief-homegrown-terrorism-is-a-devil-of-a-problem/ |access-date=April 28, 2011 |archive-date=September 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926004919/http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/110759-former-intel-chief-homegrown-terrorism-is-a-devil-of-a-problem |url-status=live }}</ref> This dilemma, some social theorists would conclude, may very well play into the initial plans of the acting terrorist(s); namely, to delegitimize the state and cause a systematic shift towards anarchy via the accumulation of negative sentiments towards the state system.<ref>shabad, goldie and francisco jose llera ramo. "Political Violence in a Democratic State", ''Terrorism in Context''. Ed. Martha Crenshaw. University Park: Pennsylvania State University, 1995. p. 467.</ref>