Terrorism, Interest-group Politics, and Public Policy: Curtailing Criminal Modes of Political Speech
Author(s)
Congleton, Roger D.
Abstract
Terrorist incidents have occurred in the United States and around the world for centuries. Indeed, terrorist attacks might be defined as violence for the purpose of sending a political message with the aim of influencing policy or at least of voicing disapproval. In this sense, terrorism is one possible method of “political dialogue.” My purpose is to provide clearer logical and economic foundations for many of our moral intuitions regarding terrorism as a method of political speech and hence to explain why terrorism should be, as it is, an illegal mode of political speech in all civilized countries. Appropriate efforts to reduce terrorist acts depend in part on the nature of the damages from those acts and in part on the threat of damages that might be caused by terrorist groups in the future. In addition, the appropriate level of resources devoted to antiterrorism depends on the probability and the extent of those damages relative to the probability and extent of other kinds of damages that might be affected by public policy. Benefit-cost analysis suggests that the antiterrorism policies now being implemented are excessive, given the risks that we face.
