Leadership and Authority in the Operation of Terrorist Groups and the Process of Radicalization

• In Event: The Strategic Operations of Terrorists

Abstract

In the past four decades, there has been increased multi-disciplinary scholarly interest in the study of charismatic authority. However, there has yet to be any empirical examination of charismatic authority in the context of terrorism, despite widespread acknowledgement of the importance of charismatic leaders in the recruitment, radicalization and operation of terrorist groups. This study seeks to contribute to future empirical research by presenting a framework for measuring the presence of charismatic authority in terrorist groups based on Max Weber’s seminal work on legitimate domination. This study then continues with a quantitative structural-level analysis that employs this framework to measure the relationship between the presence of charismatic authority and operational tactics & attack outcomes within a sample of thirty international terrorist groups, and will present preliminary findings from two in-depth qualitative case studies of leadership in two terrorist organizations.

Author

• David C. Hofmann, University of Waterloo