A RECONCEPTUALIZATION OF GENERAL AND SPECIFIC DETERRENCE

The distinction between general and specific deterrence is widely reco gnized and accepted by deterrence researchers, and is used commonly to classify deterrence studies. However the logical and empirical ground s for the distinction are not as clear as they might appear, and the c onventional conception has done more to obfuscate than to clarify the deterrence process. Following a discussion of these issues, the author s propose a reconceptualization of general and specific deterrence, an d apply it to several current controversies in the deterrence literatu re.