ABSTRACT
This chapter examines state repression and violence in the context of democratic stability. It is theorized that state repression and violence, like terrorism, undermine the rudimentary purposes of the state. In Uruguay, repressive state action can be measured by policies that indiscriminately suspend individual liberties, such as freedom of speech and association, freedom from arbitrary arrest or imprisonment, and freedom from invasion of the home and the forced drafting of workers. State violence can be measured by incidents of torture and extrajudicial executions. The Peruvian state's policy towards violent groups was inconsistent but it persistently included repressive and violent elements. In Peru, repressive state action can be measured by policies that indiscriminately suspended individual liberties, such as freedom of speech, of association, freedom from arbitrary arrest or imprisonment, freedom from invasion of the home and freedom from military control of civilians. State violence can be measured by allegations of torture, extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances.
