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Political order, development and social violence

Author

Listed:
  • Sean Fox

    (Department of International Development, London School of Economics & Political Science)

  • Kristian Hoelscher

    (Department of Political Science, University of Oslo & Peace Research Institute Oslo)

Abstract

Why are some countries more prone to social violence than others? Despite the fact that annual deaths due to homicides worldwide outnumber those due to organized armed conflict by a factor of roughly 3 to 1, this question has received very little attention from conflict and development specialists in recent years. As a modest first step in addressing this gap in the literature we draw together insights from the conflict and criminology literatures to develop a model of social violence that accounts for both political-institutional and socio-economic factors. While there is an extensive literature on the socio-economic determinants of social violence, there are only a handful of studies that consider the significance of political-institutional arrangements. Using cross-country estimates of homicides produced by the World Health Organization as an indicator of social violence, we test our model using OLS regression analysis for a sample of more than 120 countries. We find that countries with ‘hybrid’ political orders experience higher rates of social violence than those with strong autocratic or strong democratic regimes, and that weakly institutionalized democracies are particularly violent. We also find robust associations between indicators of poverty, inequality and ethnic diversity and social violence. These results indicate that social and political violence share some common underlying causes. We conclude by suggesting that the apparent global decline in organized armed conflict and the concomitant rise in social violence in recent decades may be linked to world urbanization and the ‘third wave’ of democratization in the global South, although further research is required to confirm this hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Sean Fox & Kristian Hoelscher, 2012. "Political order, development and social violence," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 49(3), pages 431-444, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:joupea:v:49:y:2012:i:3:p:431-444
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    Cited by:

    1. Elu Juliet U. & Price Gregory N., 2012. "Remittances and the Financing of Terrorism In Sub-Saharan Africa: 1974 - 2006," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(1), pages 1-42, July.
    2. Tom Goodfellow, 2014. "Legal Manoeuvres and Violence: Law Making, Protest and Semi-Authoritarianism in Uganda," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(4), pages 753-776, July.
    3. Denyer Willis, Graham & Mota Prado, Mariana, 2014. "Process and Pattern in Institutional Reforms: A Case Study of the Police Pacifying Units (UPPs) in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 232-242.
    4. Kimana Zulueta†Fülscher, 2018. "Overcoming the ownership dilemma: Contributing to peace and democracy in El Salvador and the Philippines," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(S1), pages 220-246, March.
    5. Angélica Sánchez & Thomas Goda, 2018. "Corruption and the ‘Paradox of Redistribution’," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 675-693, November.
    6. Bowman, Brett & Stevens, Garth & Eagle, Gillian & Langa, Malose & Kramer, Sherianne & Kiguwa, Peace & Nduna, Mzikazi, 2015. "The second wave of violence scholarship: South African synergies with a global research agenda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 243-248.
    7. Gazi Mainul Hassan & Joao Ricardo Faria, 2013. "Are Remittances Conflict-Abating in Recipient Countries?," Working Papers in Economics 13/11, University of Waikato.

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