Rational Choice Models of Political Violence: The Role of Injustice and Retribution

Rational choice theory, a cornerstone of economic theory for more than a century, has been largely dismissed as having relevance to the study of political violence, especially when applied to individuals rather than to groups. Yet rational choice theory offers many benefits to policymakers attempting to prevent political violence: it can place political violence within a continuum that ranges from tacit approval of violence, to nonviolent explicit support, to actual participation in violent acts. Because such models also include explicitly the constraints on individual behaviors that are the most common and promising targets for policy, they hold promise for understanding the role that counterterrorism policies play in determining individual behavior. To be most useful, however, rational choice models need to incorporate concepts such as cultural or religious beliefs that many researchers suggest are key motivators of political violence. This brief argues that rational choice models can be usefully extended to explore the role that revenge seeking plays in individuals’ choices to engage in political violence.