"E. V. Walter's classic study of despotic rule in African kingdoms, Terror and Resistance (1969)"
it "provides a solid source of theory for analyses of state terror and authoritarian rule"
Sluka: "The main function of terror identified by Walter is to maintain 'order' and counteract 'fissiparous tendencies' within the polity by inhibiting resistance, preventing change, and maintaining the existing political order —in short, to protect the status of the ruling elite. Terror is used as a means of political control: Its proximate aim is to instill fear, but the ultimate end is control (1969:13). Its function is 'not only to punish acts of disobedience and resistance but also to sap the potential for disobedience in advance and to break the power to resist'"
"The terror regime creates a context in which a person must choose between the lesser of two evils —the obvious dangers of resistance, or relative safety and the potential advantage of cooperating with the regime; 'the subjective alliance he [sic] makes with the officials shatters the solidarity of his own social group and reinforces his active cooperation with despotic power'"