FUELING THE FIRE - SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CORRELATES OF CITIZEN MILITIAACTIVITY

Objective. Given the potential threat militias pose to the U.S. federa l government, what are the social, political, and demographic factors that account for why some states have relatively high levels of militi a activity while others have none at all! Methods. Hypotheses are abst racted from the small body of literature on the subject and tested at the aggregate level of analysis using a fifty-state data set. Variable s measuring citizen military experience, propensities toward violence, capacities for violence, political environment, and demographic facto rs are considered for their impact on levels of militia activity. Resu lts. We confirm several of the hypotheses, and our final model modestl y predicts militia activity. Conclusions. We conclude that militia gro ups are motivated by concerns over a rogue government and are associat ed with larger populations of Gulf War veterans, ardent gun owners, th ose with less political representation, and populations with a greater propensity for violence.