The Two Sides of Economic and Democratic Change:
An Economic Model of Terrorism & Insurgency
by 1stLt John A. Sautter
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A formal microeconomic model of terrorism is utilized to understand acts of political violence in a domestic context within the domain of democratic governance. The model is then interpreted with terrorism as an inferior economic good to discuss how the timing of government decisions to negotiate with terrorists/insurgents can affect the likelihood of success in combating political violence. This article then analyzes this theoretical concept within various insurgent cases. Finally, a mathematical appendix is offered to show how the model operates.
