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Counterterrorism Evaluation and Citizens: More Than about Policing?

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  • Pierre Philippe Balestrini

    (Jiaxing Honesty Electron Co., Ltd., 38070 ST Quentin Fallavier, France)

Abstract

The police force is one of the few institutions still trusted by the public today. Yet, whilst the recent waves of terrorism have “stimulated” academic activity on the determinants of public fear of terrorism, much less academic effort has been focused on measuring and assessing the effectiveness of anti-terrorism strategies. The present article makes some contributions towards addressing this gap by investigating what shapes public attitudes towards the effectiveness of terrorism policing. Using Eurobarometer data, our results demonstrate that objective national economic, societal and political indicators do not tend to influence popular opinion on the effectiveness of the police in dealing with terrorism. They also show that individuals’ perceptions about the national socio-economic situation are better predictors of public opinion on terrorism policing than individuals’ financial and social positions or levels of education. The influence of these perceptions on public attitudes towards the effectiveness of counterterrorism seems to be more potent than the one on public fear of terrorism found in the extant literature. The implications of these findings are then considered.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre Philippe Balestrini, 2021. "Counterterrorism Evaluation and Citizens: More Than about Policing?," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-18, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:8:p:298-:d:609587
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sebastian Roché & Simon Varaine, 2025. "Harmful or helpful? Trust in the police after a shock: a test of (dual) expectancy disconfirmation theory," Post-Print halshs-05120570, HAL.
    2. Michelle Sydes & Lorelei Hine & Angela Higginson & James McEwan & Laura Dugan & Lorraine Mazerolle, 2023. "Criminal justice interventions for preventing radicalisation, violent extremism and terrorism: An evidence and gap map," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), December.

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