ABSTRACT
Democratic governments base their claim to rule on the consent of the governed. The relationship between violent challenger and government is considerably more complex in democratic regimes. Since violence is generally employed by challengers as a means of compelling the government to pay attention to their grievances, one might ask why their actions so rarely command the attention of government ministers. Once a government feels compelled to take action against a challenging group, it can face a number of problems in formulating its policy. A government may also be able to distance itself from its own agents and thereby deflect awareness of the slide into authoritarianism. Financial costs come into play more clearly when a government accelerates the drift towards violent authoritarianism and increases ongoing levels of coercive capacity. The reliance on government sources, directly by the media and indirectly by the general population, constricts the flow of information into the government.
