How Leader Selection Processes Affect Violent Extremist Organizations

• In Event: Terrorism and Violent Extremism

Abstract

Given the wide variety of terrorist organizations in the world, there is a large amount of variation in the ways that these groups select their leaders. In some organizations, new leaders are appointed by outgoing leaders; in others, leadership is hereditary passed down through a family. In still others, leaders are elected by their followers – or at least a representative council. How this affects organizations overall, however, is unknown; data on selection processes within terrorist organizations is piecemeal. This project gathers data on selection processes for each of the organizations listed in the Extended Database on Terrorist Groups (a global database of ~750 groups) and quantitatively assesses their effects on organizational longevity and operations. This project, and its data, can be informative because it allows us to understand potential factors which may contribute to duration and resilience.

Authors

• Stephen C. Nemeth, Oklahoma State University

• Brian Lai, University of Iowa