Terror against subordinates ranges along a continuum from legal to tolerated

Evidence

Semiofficial terror is the violence or intimidation directed against subordinates, carried out by officials of the state (e.g., internal security forces, police, secret police, paramilitary organizations) but not publicly, overtly, officially, or legally sanctioned by the state. Examples of semiofficial terror can be seen in the death squad activities that have played such a prominent role in the politics of Asia, Central and South America, and Africa. … Unofficial terror is that violence or threat of violence perpetrated by private individuals from dominant groups against members of subordinate groups. While this terror does not enjoy the active approval or sanction of official government agencies, it usually does enjoy the tacit approval if not active participation of members of the security forces (e.g., lynchings by the Ku Klux Klan). This type of terror can be quite widespread in scope and comprehensive in its effects. For example, unofficial terror resulted in the deaths of at least 3,400 African Americans in the United States between 1882 and 1927 (Pomper, 1970). — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3199

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lays out the three-tier taxonomy: official, semiofficial, unofficial terror, each with distinct examples.
• CANDY: The 3,400 lynchings stat is a striking single-fact conversation piece.