Goons, Gunmen, and Gendarmerie: Toward A Reconceptualization of Paramilitary Formations

Abstract

Is paramilitary the appropriate term for such diverse groups as the Tontons Macoutes of Haiti, the Irish Republican Army, and the China's People's Armed Police? In examining the proliferation around the globe of groups that cannot be described accurately as military, police, or civilian, this study determines that paramilitary is an appropriate and useful term. The authors formulate a definition and develop a typology of paramilitary groups from Haiti, Northern Ireland, and China. The analysis highlights the existence of a gray area in civil-military relations: while civil and military spheres are conceptualized as separate and distinct from one another, the subject of paramilitarism underscores the reality that the civil-military difference is often blurred and indistinct.