ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates the efficacy of different policies inspired from one or another approach in coping with Basque nationalist extremism in Spain, one of the most salient cases of nationalist violence in post-industrial societies. For this it makes use of the unusual abundance of data that this case has generated. The addressing of Basque nationalist extremism has been based on policies placed in two dimensions: repression and responsiveness. By relying on available data with a multivariate statistical approach, much of the analysis has focused on the evolution of terrorist violence, and particularly on the efficacy of the struggle against it. The evidence is consistent with a combination of the perspectives of repression and responsiveness. It is suggested that the mitigation of Basque nationalist extremism is best explained through a combination of efficacious but flexible repressive policies inspired in the respect of human rights, together with substantial doses of responsiveness.
