Terror threats and civil liberties: when do citizens accept infringements of civil liberties?

Hjalti Björn Hrafnkelsson,Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson,Walter L Brent Van Der Hell

doi:10.13177/irpa.a.2021.17.1.1

Abstract

Threats from subversive or threatening enemies are sometimes invoked by governments to justify infringements of civil liberties. The present article is concerned with the factors likely to affect citizen acceptance of such infringements as legitimate and necessary. A survey was conducted to evaluate the disposition of respondents to the relative prioritisation of security over civil liberties. The results indicate that even in a rather secure setting, where threats from terror can be considered relatively distant, citizens have a disposition towards prioritising security, although this depends on the degree of anxiety, political trust and general social trust. Anxiety leads to greater willingness to accept infringements, as does trust in government while general social trust leads to smaller receptiveness in this respect.

Highlights

Under which conditions are people likely to accept infringements of civil rights and liberties? The issue has gained considerable prominence during the COVID-19 crisis putting the difficult choice of weighing rights against other social outcomes in focus
In line with Davis and Silver (2004), we expect that higher political trust increases the probability of respondents prioritising security over civil liberties
The analysis explores the predictive value of threat perception from terrorism and different dimensions of trust on the likelihood of Icelanders prioritising security over civil liberties

Summary

Introduction

Under which conditions are people likely to accept infringements of civil rights and liberties? The issue has gained considerable prominence during the COVID-19 crisis putting the difficult choice of weighing rights against other social outcomes in focus. The present paper is concerned with the factors which affect one’s general disposition to accept measures infringing upon civil liberties in order to protect important values. Our research starts with an overview of civil liberties and terrorism in an Icelandic context and an exploration of some of the theoretical literature for clues as to which factors are likely to affect people’s acceptance of infringements of civil liberties in the face of terror This is followed by a description of the variables used, and a statistical using dispositions towards prioritising security over civil liberties as the dependent variable.. Fimreite and colleagues (2013) point out that in Norway support for anti-terrorism measures that breach civil liberties was high compared to other nations, before the attack in Utøya in 2011 when the country had little direct experience of terrorism. It is possible that a similar incident would have a similar effect in Iceland and only temporarily disrupt dispositions towards the importance of security and civil liberties

Disposition towards security and civil liberties

Effects of anxiety

Hypotheses

Method

Independent variable

Analysis

Findings

Conclusion and discussion