Comparing Counter-Terrorism Policies: How efficient, how legitimate?

In contrast to terrorism research, which has scrutinized all facets of the phenomenon from its causes to its effectiveness. , the study of counter-terrorism lags behind. Particularly when it comes to an overview and a categorization of the great variety of domestic and international counter-terrorism measures, the field witnesses a serious lack of academic attention: ‘we still know very little about what kinds of policies are now being applied and have been applied in the past, and how all these policies converge and differ from each other’ (Dongen, Teun van (2010) Mapping counterterrorism: a categorisation of policies and the promise of empirically based, systematic comparisons. Critical Studies on Terrorism 3(2): 227).

In addition, current research on counter-terrorism tends to focus on measuring the efficiency of initiatives without involving broader questions of legitimacy, accountability and acceptance. However, in order to assess the success of counter-terrorism measures the tension between efficiency and legitimacy has to be addressed. All too often, critics argue, measures are an attempt to control a populace through the manipulation of threat perceptions by creating and exploiting fear to legitimize counterterrorism measures as well as government control and spending. It thus seems that counter-terrorism measures need not only be scrutinized in terms of their efficacy but also in terms of their legitimacy and justification for their invasiveness and potential infringement on citizen’s rights. Mapping and comparing counter-terrorism policies therefore needs to not only aim for a clearer idea on what works and what does not but also on whether and, if so, how measure are legitimate within their respective legal and social context. .

Taking the above stated research desiderata as a starting point, this project aims at a) developing a theoretically driven framework for comparing counter-terrorism policies in light of the criteria of efficiency and legitimacy and b) at applying this framework to international measures and counter-terrorism initiatives in least at two regions and at different periods of time. The project’s overall objective is to provide for a theory-driven empirical study of counter-terrorism policies in order to produce sound knowledge on the efficiency and legitimacy of past and current counter-terrorism initiatives.