Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The study of security privatization is highly dominated by questions of regulation and the overall implications for the monopoly of violence of states. However, a quantifiable picture to what extent private security services are used in the fields of fighting, logistics and training has not yet been properly addressed. One reason for this is of course that the privatization in security policy is a quite recent phenomenon. Furthermore, systematic data collection on the use of private security services is a challenging task. This paper deals with both these challenges: It presents a new database – the Private Security Database (PSD) – and discusses its conceptual evolution and its applicability for some of the main issues in Political Science. By asking how and to what degree private security is consumed in Areas of Limited Statehood, this paper presents an approach on how to measure the delegation of security functions from the public to the private sector.