Overview

The book examines how governments and publics react to terrorist attacks in the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel. It focuses specifically on why civil liberties are abridged in some cases and not in others. The chapters cover the topic by looking at it through a number of different lenses, including topics like how governments might manipulate fear, public opinion trends after terrorist attacks, how the Patriot Act was passed, and case studies where legislation was blocked by the legislature and a government chief executive did not seek to pass legislation at all after a terrorist attack. This innovative book compares different responses to terrorism without simply focusing on the case of 9/11, and, through comparison, reveals new findings about best practices for dealing with terrorism. Freedom and Order gives a fine-grain analysis of how the Patriot Act was passed that does not exist in any other text to-date and compares public responses to terror attacks from three different countries. Rubin deals a blow to the theory that the public rallies around their leader after terrorist attacks and that civil liberties are always abridged after terrorist attacks.

Full Product Details

9780739147351

Table of Contents

Reviews

A very useful and easy to ready book which explains why at times democratic governments are able to enact counter-terrorism laws that restrict citizens' liberties and why at other times they fail to do so. Gabriel Rubin's insightful analysis should be read by any individual who wants to understand democratic governments' reactions to terrorist threats. -- Carlos Yordan, Drew University Scholars tend to argue that counter-terrorism policy either comes from the bottom up, as publics frightened by terrorism force their elected representative into overwrought responses, or from the top down, as presidents or prime ministers manipulate public opinion to generate support for their preferred policies. Using recent Israeli, British, and U.S. history and an impressive range of theoretical inputs, Gabriel Rubin skillfully integrates those previous distinct perspectives. This book explains how democratic leaders make civil liberties policy after terrorist attacks, but its theory will help anyone trying to understand how leaders navigate amid excitable publics and political rivals to make security policy. -- Benjamin H. Friedman, author of <I>Terrorizing Ourselves<I>

A very useful and easy to ready book which explains why at times democratic governments are able to enact counter-terrorism laws that restrict citizens' liberties and why at other times they fail to do so. Gabriel Rubin's insightful analysis should be read by any individual who wants to understand democratic governments' reactions to terrorist threats.--Carlos Yordan

Author Information

Gabriel Rubin is assistant professor in the Department of Justice Studies at Montclair State University.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available