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Democratization and Civil Liberties: The Role of Violence During the Transition

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  • Cervellati, Matteo

    () (University of Bologna)

  • Fortunato, Piergiuseppe

    () (UNCTAD)

  • Sunde, Uwe

    () (University of Munich)

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of violent civil conflicts during the process of democratization for the quality of emerging democracies, and in particular, the protection of civil (political and economic) liberties. A simple theory in which different groups may engage in violent conflict in order to become the ruler predicts a crucial role of the democratization scenario. A peaceful democratization leads to democracies with a high degree of civil liberties, reflecting a social contract according to which all groups are politically represented and the rulers deliberately abstain from wasteful rent extraction. A transition to democracy under a violent conflict is less likely to lead to a system with a high degree of civil liberties. Empirical evidence from the third wave of democratization based on a difference-in-difference methodology supports the theoretical predictions. The findings suggest that violent conflicts during the democratic transition have persistent negative effects on the quality of the emerging democracies.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 5555.

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Length: 49 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2011
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5555

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Keywords: democratization; civil conflict; violent democratization; civil liberties;

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  1. Elias Papaioannou & Gregorios Siourounis, 2008. "Democratisation and Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(532), pages 1520-1551, October.
  2. Humberto Llavador & Robert Oxoby, 2003. "Partisan competition, growth and the franchise," Economics Working Papers 730, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Sep 2004.
  3. William Jack & Roger Lagunoff, 2003. "Dynamic Enfranchisement," Levine's Bibliography 666156000000000030, UCLA Department of Economics.
  4. Bourguignon, Francois & Verdier, Thierry, 2000. "Oligarchy, democracy, inequality and growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 285-313, August.
  5. Robert J. Barro, 1999. "Determinants of Democracy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(S6), pages S158-S183, December.
  6. John P. Conley & Akram Temimi, 2001. "Endogenous Enfranchisement When Groups' Preferences Conflict," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(1), pages 79-102, February.
  7. Sunde, Uwe & Cervellati, Matteo & Fortunato, Piergiuseppe, 2007. "Are All Democracies Equally Good? The Role of Interactions between Political Environment and Inequality for Rule of Law," IZA Discussion Papers 2984, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  8. Bertocchi, Graziella & Spagat, Michael, 2001. "The Politics of Co-optation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 591-607, December.
  9. Cervellati, Matteo & Fortunato, Piergiuseppe & Sunde, Uwe, 2006. "Consensual and Conflictual Democratization," IZA Discussion Papers 2225, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  10. North,Douglass C. & Wallis,John Joseph & Weingast,Barry R., 2009. "Violence and Social Orders," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521761734.
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