Terrorist Threat and Democratic Public Opinion

Abstract

Streaming video requires Flash Player, RealPlayer, or Windows Media Player to view.Increased sophistication, scope, and fatalities define modern terrorism and leave few corners of the globe free from the specter of this threat. Our research suggests that individuals are more likely to reject democratic values, processes, and institutions when terrorism is a salient concern. In this presentation, we focus on data from both experiments and surveys conducted across the Americas. We show high but varying average levels of worry about terrorism across countries in this region, and we trace these feelings to both individual and contextual factors. We then present evidence linking terrorist threat to a variety of measures of democratic public opinion. Finally, we outline several ongoing theoretical and empirical extensions to this research program.Ohio State University. Mershon Center for International Security StudiesEvent Web page, streaming video, event photo