ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a theory that focuses on the notion that an individual's willingness to trust those outside of their immediate community affects the nature of the political endeavors, if any, that an individual ends up pursuing. It provides a very simple illustration of the relationship between trust and the mechanism of political action an individual ultimately chooses. The chapter provides a representation of how generalized interpersonal trust affects participation in terrorism that is consistent with previous findings on terrorism and individual political and economic behavior. Much of the literature on participation in terrorism has focused on the economic condition of states and individuals. At the macro-level, economic development has been shown to reduce participation in terrorism. Terrorism is generally less efficient than other forms of political mobilization. Other viable forms of political mobilization, however, require higher levels of participation from individuals within a society.
