URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Spring_2018_Melissa-McCarthy

The Effects of Persistent Terrorism

on Democracy written by Oluwatona Campbell ’21

University of Rhode Island (URI) Associate Professor Marc Hutchison has spent a significant part of his career studying the influence of terrorism and conflict on political tolerance. “We had September 11, and it was a massive attack,” Hutchison says. “One of the things the United States has struggled with since then is what kind of impact terrorism has had in changing our idea of democracy, our attitudes and our values?” National and global politics illustrates the adverse consequences terrorism has had on political attitudes in a post-9/11 world.

Hutchison sought to further explore the relationship between persistent terrorism and political tolerance, to try to find the point where terrorism might cause a democracy to backslide toward an authoritarian government.

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