WHY DO TERRORISTS CLAIM CREDIT? Attack-Level and Country-Level Analyses of Factors Influencing Terrorist Credit-taking Behavior

Terrorism is commonly considered a coercive political strategy employed to manipulate a broader audience, enraptured by the horror of the terrorist’s dramatic acts of violence. However, if generating publicity and disrupting public life is the raison d’etre of modern terrorism, why do so many contemporary attacks remain unclaimed by their perpetrators? Over the past forty years, the proportion of attacks where credit is taken has fallen dramatically. By 2004, roughly 14.5% of all attacks were claimed. This paper is the first attempt to explore credit-taking behavior using cross-national data. I test theoretical claims using two datasets (of attack-level and country-level factors) and a series of statistical methods. I conclude that the factors influencing credit-taking are neither equally powerful across geographic space nor time and conclude that several major theories of terrorist decision-making fail to adequately explain terrorists’ decision to claim ownership over their deeds.