Civility and terror seem to be near opposites at the least. Political violence is about as addictive as a drug to those who use it, and it creates its own simulacrum of authority. But the authority of violence, except in obvious self defense (self-defense can be more violent than illegitimate aggression, and it might be excused even if homicidal).
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.