What Extremism Means to the Federal Government

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Lawfare

The federal government lacks a public definition of “extremism.” But the Justice Department uses the term “violent extremism” to categorize various terrorism threats, and the Defense Department prohibits service members from active participation in so-called extremist activities. In both examples, the government uses modifiers to restrict the meaning of “extremism” or “extremist” in a specific context. In this respect, “violent” and “activities” serve similar functions. Distinctions in how the terms operate in practice, however, speak to the challenges of defining extremism and developing extremism-related policies within the federal government.

Neither Congress nor the executive branch has an official definition of extremism, but the Oxford English Dictionary defines the term as “the holding of extreme political or religious views.” That in turn requires a definition of “extreme” views, which is often left up to interpretation.

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