Abstract:
ABSTRACT
THE AMERICAN MILITIA PHENOMENON: A PSYCHOLOGICAL
PROFILE OF MILITANT THEOCRACIES
by
© Theodore C. Allen 2009
Master of Arts in Political Science
California State University, Chico
Summer 2009
The emergence of political and paramilitary action militias during the 1980s
and beyond in the United States is not a phenomenon unique to contemporary America.
Indeed, the roots of modern day American militias may be traced all the way back to
colonial, pre-revolutionary, revolutionary, and post revolutionary examples. Moreover,
20th and 21st century American militias have more in common with their predecessors
than just political and paramilitary similarities. The colonial through post revolutionary
militias were motivated by religious and racial attitudes in addition to their political resort
to military violence as a means for redress of their grievances. The main qualitative
premise of this paper is that the militias of contemporary America are also driven by
many of the same historical, political, racial, religious, and economic perspectives of
their early American forefathers. This historical, political, racial, religious, and
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economic inquiry investigates the militia phenomenon from an academic political science
perspective. Moreover, this paper will explore the details and parallels of those
conjunctive intersections between 18th and 19th Century militias and those of their 20th
and 21st Century brethren. Moreover, the militia belief that, as a result of their zeal for
their doctrine, they are fighting for the existence of their race, heritage, and culture in
the country of their birth and consequently they believe they are being subjected to
socio-political, religious, and racial marginalization and persecution at least will be examined.
Finally, this paper will also investigate the departure of some militias from the
original models of the American past and their metamorphosis into a source of domestic
insurrection bent on cooperation with foreign enemies toward the destruction of the
United States government and long held American socio-cultural values.
