Security and Rights: The development of Norwegian counter-terrorism measures post 9/11 and their impact on the private sphere

Abstract

In a thriving democracy, there will always be a tension between the public’s need and desire for safety and security and the fundamental precondition for democracy itself: the State’s respect for the citizens’ civil and political rights, practiced particularly in the private sphere. While it is widely accepted (though not approved) that some degree of crime is part of democracy, terrorism is in a unique position as something one never wishes to occur. No democracy can accept terrorism. It challenges the State's ability to protect its citizens, and thus also its legitimacy. For Western democracies, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States marked a watershed for security politics, shifting the balance in favor of more interference with people’s private sphere, in the name of national security. However, if terrorism is placed in such an extraordinary position as something that needs to be prevented in advance, this also demands a different set of requirements from a society to be able to handle such challenges. This dissertation focuses on the liberal democracy of Norway’s developments in counter-terrorism measures post 9/11, and how these developments have affected the balancing between the societal security needs and Norwegians’ individual rights.