IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/compsc/v35y2018i6p587-600.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Democracy and civil war: The case of Colombia

Author

Listed:
  • Abbey Steele

    (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Livia I Schubiger

    (London School of Economics, UK)

Abstract

We argue that scholarship on the Colombian civil war can fertilize the research program on political violence and democracy in two ways. First, the Colombian case demonstrates that the scholarly research agenda on electoral violence should expand to incorporate a broader focus on democratic institutions. In the context of an ongoing civil war, democratic reforms in Colombia had a substantial impact on the dynamics of wartime violence. Second, the Colombian case showcases an overlooked danger of decentralization that, if implemented under the wrong conditions, can facilitate the capture of democratic institutions by political and criminal armed groups. These insights have important implications for the study of wartime democratic governance and state-building relevant both for the peace process between the Colombian government and the FARC, and for cases beyond Colombia.

Suggested Citation

  • Abbey Steele & Livia I Schubiger, 2018. "Democracy and civil war: The case of Colombia," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 35(6), pages 587-600, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:compsc:v:35:y:2018:i:6:p:587-600
    DOI: 10.1177/0738894218787780
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0738894218787780
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0738894218787780?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ch, Rafael & Shapiro, Jacob & Steele, Abbey & Vargas, Juan F., 2018. "Endogenous Taxation in Ongoing Internal Conflict: The Case of Colombia," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 112(4), pages 996-1015, November.
    2. Lars-Erik Cederman & Simon Hug & Lutz F. Krebs, 2010. "Democratization and civil war: Empirical evidence," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 47(4), pages 377-394, July.
    3. Hyde, Susan D. & Marinov, Nikolay, 2012. "Which Elections Can Be Lost?," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(2), pages 191-210, April.
    4. Abbey Steele, 2011. "Electing Displacement: Political Cleansing in Apartadó, Colombia," Documentos CEDE 8747, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    5. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson & Rafael J. Santos, 2013. "The Monopoly Of Violence: Evidence From Colombia," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11, pages 5-44, January.
    6. Kuran, Timur, 1987. "Preference Falsification, Policy Continuity and Collective Conservatism," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 97(387), pages 642-665, September.
    7. Abbey Steele, 2011. "Electing Displacement: Political Cleansing in Apartad�, Colombia," HiCN Working Papers 96, Households in Conflict Network.
    8. Kalyvas, Stathis N. & Balcells, Laia, 2010. "International System and Technologies of Rebellion: How the End of the Cold War Shaped Internal Conflict," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 104(3), pages 415-429, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leopoldo Fergusson & Pablo Querubin & Nelson A. Ruiz & Juan F. Vargas, 2021. "The Real Winner's Curse," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(1), pages 52-68, January.
    2. Jorge Gallego, 2018. "Civil conflict and voting behavior: Evidence from Colombia," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 35(6), pages 601-621, November.
    3. Leopoldo Fergusson, 2019. "Who wants violence? The political economy of conflict and state building in Colombia," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, vol. 38(78), pages 671-700, November.
    4. Turnbull, Megan, 2021. "When armed groups refuse to carry out election violence: Evidence from Nigeria," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    5. Olivier Sterck, 2020. "Fighting for Votes: Theory and Evidence on the Causes of Electoral Violence," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 87(347), pages 844-883, July.
    6. Sergio Parra Cely & Clotilde Mahé, 2020. "Does Internal Displacement Affect Educational Achievement in Host Communities?," DEM Discussion Paper Series 20-05, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    7. Bandiera, Antonella, 2021. "Deliberate displacement during conflict: Evidence from Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    8. Iván Higuera Mendieta, 2017. "Control armado y comportamiento electoral: Un cuasi-experimento en el Caguán," Documentos de trabajo sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 256, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    9. Diego Esparza & Jessica Lucas & Enrique Martinez & James Meernik & Ignacio Molinero & Victoria Nevarez, 2020. "Movement of the people: Violence and internal displacement," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 233-250, September.
    10. Angulo Amaya, Maria Camila, 2024. "Criminal governance and public resources: The case of paramilitaries and health care provision in Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    11. Agustín Goenaga & Oriol Sabaté & Jan Teorell, 2023. "The state does not live by warfare alone: War and revenue in the long nineteenth century," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 393-418, April.
    12. Laia Balcells & Abbey Steele, 2012. "Warfare, Political Identities, and Displacement in Spain and Colombia," HiCN Working Papers 124, Households in Conflict Network.
    13. Gustav Agneman, 2022. "Conflict Victimization and Civilian Obedience: Evidence from Colombia," HiCN Working Papers 379, Households in Conflict Network.
    14. Mounu Prem & Juan F. Vargas & Daniel Mejía, 2023. "The Rise and Persistence of Illegal Crops: Evidence from a Naive Policy Announcement," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(2), pages 344-358, March.
    15. Chelsea Estancona & Lindsay Reid, 2022. "Pro-government militias and civil war termination," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 39(3), pages 291-310, May.
    16. Maria Paula Saffon & Fabio Sánchez, 2019. "Historical grievances and war dynamics: Old land conflicts as a cause of current forced displacements in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 17320, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    17. Mounu Prem & Andrés Rivera & Darío Romero & Juan F. Vargas, 2018. "Killing social leaders for territorial control: the unintended consequences of peace," Documentos de Trabajo 17020, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA).
    18. Juan Carlos Munoz Mora & José Antonio Fortou & Sandra L Johansson & Jorge Giraldo-Ramirez, 2015. "This land is My Land: Understanding the Relationship between Armed Conflict and Land in Uraba, Colombia," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2015-17, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    19. Harris,Colin & Cai,Meina & Murtazashvili,Ilia & Murtazashvili,Jennifer Brick, 2020. "The Origins and Consequences of Property Rights," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108969055, October.
    20. Ana Maria Diaz & Luz Magdalena Salas & Ana María Tribín-Uribe, 2020. "Hidden benefits of peace: The case of sexual violence," Borradores de Economia 1124, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:compsc:v:35:y:2018:i:6:p:587-600. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://pss.la.psu.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.