Citation

Gurr TR. J. Soc. Iss. 1972; 28(1): 27-47.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1972, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1540-4560.1972.tb00003.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Quantitative, comparative studies of violent conflict within societies constitute a growing subfield of political science. Some common assumptions of these studies are the premises that conflict events have similar properties and causes across all types of contemporary nations, and that these properties and causes are susceptible to reliable and valid measurement. Convergence is apparent in some results: violent conflict-intensifies in periods of rapid socioeconomic change; the transition to socioeconomic "modernity" helps lessen revolutionary activity but not turmoil; increased coerciveness by regimes tends under some specifiable circumstances to exacerbate civil conflict; and there is little relationship between the incidence of domestic and foreign conflict as cause, effect, or alternatives. Prospects and problems for such studies are briefly evaluated.

Language: en