ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to make sense of the evolution of counter-terrorism policy over the past 20 years, in Belgium and in liberal democracies more broadly. Firstly, it looks at the public policy theory literature to explain why and how counter-terrorism policy-making changed over time, looking into drivers and processes of policy change. Secondly, it looks at the issue of “effectiveness” to discuss whether the evolution described in this book is in the end leading to a more effective response to terrorism. These theoretical insights are then measured against the empirical findings from the in-depth analysis of the evolution of counter-terrorism in Belgium since 2001. Overall, there are important elements of theory of counter-terrorism policy-making that emerge from this chapter, which can be generalised well beyond the case of Belgium.
