IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/ecdecc/doi10.1086-682957.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Civil War and Political Participation: Evidence from Uganda

Author

Listed:
  • Giacomo De Luca
  • Marijke Verpoorten

Abstract

We show that armed conflict in Uganda affects civic participation, measured by the frequency of political discussion and local meeting attendance. Relying on four rounds of nationally representative individual-level data on civic participation bracketing a large number of battle events, we find that civic participation increases in districts in which battle events took place. Evidence from a variety of identification strategies, including difference-in-difference and IV estimates, suggest that the relationship is causal. However, unlike previous studies, we find that experiencing violence does not affect formal electoral participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Giacomo De Luca & Marijke Verpoorten, 2015. "Civil War and Political Participation: Evidence from Uganda," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(1), pages 113-141.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/682957
    DOI: 10.1086/682957
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/682957
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/682957
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/682957?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pieter Serneels & Marijke Verpoorten, 2015. "The Impact of Armed Conflict on Economic Performance," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 59(4), pages 555-592, June.
    2. Deininger,Klaus W., 2003. "Causes and consequences of civil strife - micro-level evidence from Uganda," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3045, The World Bank.
    3. J. Vernon Henderson & Adam Storeygard & David N. Weil, 2012. "Measuring Economic Growth from Outer Space," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(2), pages 994-1028, April.
    4. Blattman, Christopher, 2009. "From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 103(2), pages 231-247, May.
    5. -, 2009. "Economic growth in the Caribbean," Sede Subregional de la CEPAL para el Caribe (Estudios e Investigaciones) 38668, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    6. Alessandra Cassar & Pauline Grosjean & Sam Whitt, 2011. "Civil War, Social Capital and Market Development: Experimental and Survey Evidence on the Negative Consequences of Violence," Discussion Papers 2011-14, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    7. Jorge A. Restrepo & Michael Spagat & Juan F. Vargas, 2006. "Special Data Feature; The Severity of the Colombian Conflict: Cross-Country Datasets Versus New Micro-Data," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 43(1), pages 99-115, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Travers Barclay Child & Elena Nikolova, 2017. "War and Social Attitudes," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 2017-5, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    2. Shelley X Liu, 2022. "How war-related deprivation affects political participation: Evidence from education loss in Liberia," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(3), pages 353-366, May.
    3. Adong, Annet & Kornher, Lukas & Kiptoo Kirui, Oliver & von Braun, Joachim, 2021. "Conflict exposure and food consumption pathways during and after conflict: Evidence from Northern Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    4. Ferguson, Neil T.N. & Leroch, Martin Alois, 2023. "On the behavioral impacts of violence: Evidence from incentivized games in Kenya," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Michal Bauer & Christopher Blattman & Julie Chytilová & Joseph Henrich & Edward Miguel & Tamar Mitts, 2016. "Can War Foster Cooperation?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 249-274, Summer.
    6. De Luca, Giacomo Davide & Lin, Xi, 2024. "The role of health and health systems in promoting social capital, political participation and peace: A narrative review," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    7. Alacevich, Caterina & Zejcirovic, Dijana, 2020. "Does violence against civilians depress voter turnout? Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 841-865.
    8. Sarah Bridges & Douglas Scott, 2022. "Early Childhood Health During Conflict: The Legacy of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(4), pages 694-718, August.
    9. Markus Freitag & Sara Kijewski & Malvin Oppold, 2019. "War experiences, economic grievances, and political participation in postwar societies: An empirical analysis of Kosovo," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 36(4), pages 405-424, July.
    10. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Munyanyi, Musharavati Ephraim & Smyth, Russell & Trinh, Trong-Anh, 2021. "Early life shocks and entrepreneurship: Evidence from the Vietnam War," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 506-518.
    11. Vinck,Patrick Thierry & O’Mealia,Thomas & Wei,Carol & al-Saiedi,Abdulrazzaq & Irwani,Muslih & Pham,Phuong Ngoc, 2022. "Displacement and Social Empowerment : Evidence from Surveys of IDPs in Iraq, the Philippines, and Uganda," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10022, The World Bank.
    12. Ingelaere, Bert & Verpoorten, Marijke, 2016. "Inter-ethnic trust in the aftermath of mass violence: insights from large-N life histories," IOB Working Papers 2016.03, Universiteit Antwerpen, Institute of Development Policy (IOB).
    13. Christophe Muller & Marc Vothknecht, 2011. "Group Violence, Ethnic Diversity, and Citizen Participation: Evidence from Indonesia," Research Working Papers 48, MICROCON - A Micro Level Analysis of Violent Conflict.
    14. Djemaï, Elodie & Kevane, Michael, 2023. "Effects of education on political engagement in rural Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    15. Coupé, Tom & Obrizan, Maksym, 2016. "Violence and political outcomes in Ukraine—Evidence from Sloviansk and Kramatorsk," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 201-212.
    16. Ludovico Alcorta & Jeroen Smits & Haley J. Swedlund & Eelke Jong, 2020. "The ‘Dark Side’ of Social Capital: A Cross-National Examination of the Relationship Between Social Capital and Violence in Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 445-465, June.
    17. Giacomo De Luca & Marijke Verpoorten, 2011. "From Vice to Virtue? Civil War and Social Capital in Uganda," HiCN Working Papers 111, Households in Conflict Network.
    18. repec:lic:licosd:29811 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Appau, Samuelson & Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell & Trinh, Trong-Anh, 2021. "The long-term impact of the Vietnam War on agricultural productivity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    20. Barceló, Joan, 2024. "Omitted Variable Bias and Wartime Legacies. A Reply to Malesky and Nguyen (Journal of Comments and Replications in Economics, 2024)," Journal of Comments and Replications in Economics (JCRE), ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 3(2024-7), pages 1-39.
    21. Achyuta Adhvaryu & James Fenske, 2014. "Conflict and the Formation of Political Beliefs in Africa," HiCN Working Papers 164, Households in Conflict Network.

    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. Dominic Rohner & Mathias Thoenig & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2013. "Seeds of distrust: conflict in Uganda," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 217-252, September.
    2. Adong, Annet & Kornher, Lukas & Kiptoo Kirui, Oliver & von Braun, Joachim, 2021. "Conflict exposure and food consumption pathways during and after conflict: Evidence from Northern Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    3. Patricia Justino, 2012. "Shared Societies and Armed Conflict: Costs, Inequality and the Benefits of Peace," Working Papers 2012/35, Maastricht School of Management.
    4. Maarten Voors & Eleonora Nillesen & Philip Verwimp & Erwin Bulte & Robert Lensink & Daan van Soest, 2010. "Does Conflict affect Preferences? Results from Field Experiments in Burundi," HiCN Working Papers 71, Households in Conflict Network.
    5. Sangnier, Marc & Zylberberg, Yanos, 2017. "Protests and trust in the state: Evidence from African countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 55-67.
    6. Arias, María Alejandra & Ibáñez, Ana María & Zambrano, Andrés, 2019. "Agricultural production amid conflict: Separating the effects of conflict into shocks and uncertainty," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 165-184.
    7. Ingelaere, Bert & Verpoorten, Marijke, 2016. "Inter-ethnic trust in the aftermath of mass violence: insights from large-N life histories," IOB Working Papers 2016.03, Universiteit Antwerpen, Institute of Development Policy (IOB).
    8. Nicolás de Roux & Luis Roberto Martínez, 2021. "Forgone Investment: Civil Conflict and Agricultural Credit in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 19236, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    9. Elisa Mougin, 2021. "Three essays in the political economy of information [Trois essais en économie politique de l’information]," SciencePo Working papers Main tel-03537938, HAL.
    10. Alexander De Juan & Jan Henryk Pierskalla, 2016. "Civil war violence and political trust: Microlevel evidence from Nepal," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 33(1), pages 67-88, February.
    11. Hönig, Tillman, 2017. "The Impact of Peace: Evidence from Nigeria," MPRA Paper 83302, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Nicolás de Roux & Luis Martínez, 2021. "Inversión Perdida: Conflicto Civil y Crédito Agrícola en Colombia," Documentos CEDE 19622, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    13. Provenzano, Sandro, 2024. "Accountability failure in isolated areas: The cost of remoteness from the capital city," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    14. Shelley X Liu, 2022. "How war-related deprivation affects political participation: Evidence from education loss in Liberia," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(3), pages 353-366, May.
    15. Elisa Mougin, 2021. "Three essays in the political economy of information [Trois essais en économie politique de l’information]," SciencePo Working papers tel-03537938, HAL.
    16. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Munyanyi, Musharavati Ephraim & Smyth, Russell & Trinh, Trong-Anh, 2021. "Early life shocks and entrepreneurship: Evidence from the Vietnam War," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 506-518.
    17. Giacomo De Luca & Marijke Verpoorten, 2011. "From Vice to Virtue? Civil War and Social Capital in Uganda," HiCN Working Papers 111, Households in Conflict Network.
    18. Erdős, Tibor, 2017. "Egy kis növekedéselmélet - másképpen. A munka, a tőke és a technikai fejlődés parciális növekedési hatásáról [A bit of growth theory - somewhat differently. The partial growth effect of labour, cap," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(5), pages 528-545.
    19. Alessandra Cassar & Pauline Grosjean & Sam Whitt, 2011. "Social Cooperation and the Problem of the Conflict Gap: Survey and Experimental Evidence from Post-War Tajikistan," Discussion Papers 2011-15, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    20. Vinck,Patrick Thierry & O’Mealia,Thomas & Wei,Carol & al-Saiedi,Abdulrazzaq & Irwani,Muslih & Pham,Phuong Ngoc, 2022. "Displacement and Social Empowerment : Evidence from Surveys of IDPs in Iraq, the Philippines, and Uganda," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10022, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/682957. 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: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/EDCC .

    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.