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A rational choice (RC) formulation of value-expectancy theory of participation in collective protests is described and applied to East German popular protests against the Communist regime in 1989. The heart of the RC model is a production function for collective good attainment, an assurance process that overcomes free rider tendencies and strategic interaction based on expectations.

Terrorism is an extreme, violent response to a failed political process engaging political regimes and ethnic and ideological adversaries over fundamental governance issues. Applying the theory of collective action, the author explains the dynamic of violence escalation and persistence. Recent Islamist terrorism stems from the conviction that a theocracy is the only answer to the multiple problems of Middle Eastern and Muslim countries. Checks on terrorism result both from external social control and from the internal contradictions of theocratic states.

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