ABSTRACT
If there is one remarkable feature of recent research on political violence, it is its largely cross-national nature (“cross-national” denoting here quantitative cross-national studies). Accordingly, most of this rather lengthy chapter is devoted to these cross-national studies of political violence. Without exception these studies are based on aggregate data. Data on individuals and/or groups participating in acts of political violence are still to be collected on a cross-national basis (but cf. also the approach of the TILLY group in chapter 8.4.6.6.1). Although there are a number of noteworthy studies at the individual level, studies growing out of dealing with the causes of the American black riots in the 1960s (see chapter 5.3.2 and especially chapter 5.3.2.3), none of these is cross-national in perspective. One may have serious doubts as to whether constructs such as political distrust, political efficacy, internal control, etc. employed in studies on the black riots would also be meaningful explanations in other contexts.
