The Order of Violence

Abstract

Organized violence and order form an odd couple. In the case of democracies, people think of (social and political) order as a self-evident and generally accepted social structure. This social structure, in order to remain accepted and to integrate the members of the group or society, should be free of violence, or at least nearly free of violence, for a certain amount of it must be retained to protect the group and the social and political order. Thus, protection is delegated to special institutions such as the police forces and the military forces. These institutions derive their legitimacy from the state, which claims the monopoly of organized violence. Because of their armament, these institutions are a potential danger to the civil order. Therefore, they are usually tightly controlled by other institutions (e.g., Parliament and the media).