Illegal private violence has a political function only in politically enfeebled states

Evidence

From all that has been said it follows that in the phenomenon of military commandos, it is necessary to distinguish between the technical function of commandos as a special force linked to the modern war of position, and their politico-military function. As a special force commandos were used by all armies in the World War. But they have only had a politico-military function in those countries which are politically enfeebled and non-homogeneous, and which are therefore represented by a not very combative national army, and a bureaucratised General Staff, grown rusty in the service. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 887

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the technical vs. politico-military distinction for commando/private armed forces.
• XREF: connects to: Weak states whose courts work poorly breed police violence and gang patronage — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 514