Public Perceptions of Threat in Britain: Security in an Age of Austerity

英国公众对威胁的看法：紧缩时代的安全

• 批准号: ES/J004596/1
• 负责人: Daniel Stevens
• 金额: $ 10.43万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2012 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FJ004596%2F1
• 关键词: Public; Perceptions; Threat; Britain; Security

The international political landscape in which Britain operates has been transformed dramatically since the Cold War as a result of increased interconnectedness arising from globalisation, according to recent National Security Strategies published in 2008 and 2010. No longer are British interests at home and abroad considered to be under threat from one particular state, but rather from a complex web of threats said to include: international terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, conflict and failed states, pandemics, and trans-national crime. Successive Labour and Conservative-Liberal Democratic governments have pledged not only to develop a resilient security architecture designed to identify and mitigate against the effects of these threats. One of their key objectives has also been to reassure the British public, to heighten collective levels of security among the population, and to reduce subjective feelings of being "threatened". Yet, despite a tripling of the security budget since 2001 to just over £3.5 billion by 2011, little is known about public attitudes towards security threats, what sorts of issues ordinary people find threatening, whether they agree with -- or indeed are aware of -- governments' attempts to make them feel more "secure", and whether these attempts have any impact. This lack of information about public perceptions of security threats in Britain is made all the more serious in view of the need for reductions in the fiscal deficit and tough decisions about public spending in all areas of government including National Security. The aim of our project, therefore, is to address this gap by launching an innovative and timely pilot investigation into a) how members of the public understand the related concepts of "threat" and "security", b) what they consider to be the most pressing threats to their security in contemporary political life, c) how and whether perceived threats to security influence other political attitudes such as tolerance of outgroups, and d) whether their views coincide or diverge from what the government's National Security Strategy presents as the greatest threats to British security and effective ways to respond to and mitigate them. Our programme of research seeks to gather views from across the main regions of the British Isles, including people of varying lifestage from different socio-economic, religious and cultural backgrounds. As well as a large-scale survey involving 2000 respondents, we shall conduct "mini groups" of 3-4 respondents in order to obtain views from individuals in-depth but also to examine group interactions. Our results will then be compared and contrasted with elite representations of threat, as found in, inter alia, the National Security Strategies, to build a picture of the congruence between "official" and "everyday" attitudes towards security. In keeping with the present government's 'Big Society' approach, the findings of the study will feed the attitudes and opinions of members of the public into substantive policy debates, such as those pertaining to the 2010 Security Defence and Security Review. We shall achieve this feed-back to key stakeholders through a series of policy papers to be presented at briefings with key organisations and end-users (Cabinet Office, National Security Council, Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism). Additionally, the project will open up new and innovative avenues for future academic research into public perceptions of threat in comparative contexts and cognitive and affective influences on threat definition more generally in the sub-disciplines of security studies and political psychology, respectively.

根据最近于 2008 年和 2010 年发布的《国家安全战略》，自冷战以来，由于全球化带来的相互联系性增强，英国所处的国际政治格局发生了巨大变化。英国在国内外的利益不再被认为受到某个特定国家的威胁，而是受到一系列复杂的威胁，据说这些威胁包括：国际恐怖主义、大规模杀伤性武器、冲突和失败国家、流行病和跨国犯罪。历届工党政府和保守自由民主党政府不仅承诺开发一种弹性安全架构，旨在识别和减轻这些威胁的影响。他们的主要目标之一也是安抚英国公众，提高民众的集体安全水平，并减少受到“威胁”的主观感受。然而，尽管安全预算自 2001 年以来增加了两倍，到 2011 年略高于 35 亿英镑，但公众对安全威胁的态度、普通民众认为哪些问题具有威胁性、他们是否同意（或确实意识到）政府让他们感到更“安全”的努力以及这些尝试是否产生任何影响，人们却知之甚少。鉴于需要削减财政赤字以及对包括国家安全在内的政府所有领域的公共支出做出艰难决定，英国公众对安全威胁看法的信息缺乏变得更加严重。因此，我们项目的目的是通过开展一项创新且及时的试点调查来弥补这一差距，调查内容包括：a) 公众如何理解“威胁”和“安全”的相关概念；b) 他们认为当代政治生活中对其安全最紧迫的威胁是什么；c) 感知到的安全威胁如何以及是否影响其他政治态度，例如对外群体的容忍度；d) 他们的观点是否一致或不同。 政府的国家安全战略提出了英国安全面临的最大威胁以及应对和减轻这些威胁的有效方法。我们的研究计划旨在收集不列颠群岛主要地区的观点，包括来自不同社会经济、宗教和文化背景、处于不同生命阶段的人们的观点。除了涉及2000名受访者的大规模调查外，我们还将进行由3-4名受访者组成的“迷你小组”，以便深入了解个人的观点，并检查群体互动。然后，我们的结果将与国家安全战略等领域的精英对威胁的表述进行比较和对比，以构建“官方”和“日常”安全态度之间的一致性图景。为了与现任政府的“大社会”方针保持一致，该研究的结果将把公众的态度和意见纳入实质性政策辩论中，例如与2010年安全防御和安全审查有关的辩论。我们将通过在关键组织和最终用户（内阁办公室、国家安全委员会、安全和反恐办公室）的简报会上提交的一系列政策文件，向主要利益相关者提供反馈。此外，该项目将为未来的学术研究开辟新的创新途径，研究比较背景下公众对威胁的看法以及安全研究和政治心理学子学科中更普遍的威胁定义的认知和情感影响。

项目成果

The Affective Politics of Risk and Resilience: Vernacular Theories of (In)Security

风险和弹性的情感政治：（内）安全的白话理论

• 作者: Nick Vaughan-Williams (Author)

Gender and Perceptions of Security Threats

性别和对安全威胁的看法

• 发表时间: 2015
• 作者: Banducci, SA

Male warriors and worried women? Understanding gender and perceptions of security threats

男性战士和忧心忡忡的女性？

• DOI: 10.1017/eis.2020.14
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: European Journal of International Security
• 影响因子: 2.2
• 作者: Stevens D

Border Security: Public Perceptions and Experiences

边境安全：公众的看法和经验

• 作者: Daniel Stevens (co-Author)

Citizens and Security Threats: Issues, Perceptions and Consequences Beyond the National Frame

公民与安全威胁：国家框架之外的问题、看法和后果

• DOI: 10.1017/s0007123414000143
• 发表时间: 2014
• 期刊: British Journal of Political Science
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: Stevens D