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Rebel governance: military boon or military bust? (Isard Award Article)

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  • Megan A Stewart

Abstract

What is the relationship between rebel governance and rebel military strength? Most existing research assumes that rebel governance enhances the military strength of the rebel group. I test this assumption with an original dataset of rebel governance services. The quantitative evidence presents a more complicated picture that belies a straightforward link between the two: governance appears to have either no relationship with rebel strength and sometimes even a negative and statistically significant relationship with rebel military capacity. To explain this surprising result, I generate a set of empirically grounded mechanisms using case vignettes that incorporate primary and secondary data. As a whole, the paper calls for greater theorizing and testing of the consequences of rebel governance, as well as the strategic motivations for its implementation.

Suggested Citation

  • Megan A Stewart, 2020. "Rebel governance: military boon or military bust? (Isard Award Article)," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 37(1), pages 16-38, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:compsc:v:37:y:2020:i:1:p:16-38
    DOI: 10.1177/0738894219881422
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fearon, James D. & Laitin, David D., 2003. "Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 97(1), pages 75-90, February.
    2. Stewart, Megan A., 2018. "Civil War as State-Making: Strategic Governance in Civil War," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(1), pages 205-226, January.
    3. repec:wbk:wbpubs:6014 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Adrian Florea, 2014. "De Facto States in International Politics (1945--2011): A New Data Set," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(5), pages 788-811, October.
    5. Olson, Mancur, 1993. "Dictatorship, Democracy, and Development," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(3), pages 567-576, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Karen Albert, 2023. "Rebel institutions and negotiated peace," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 40(3), pages 239-259, May.
    2. Seden Akcinaroglu & Jeremy Berkowitz & Carlos E. Moreno Leon & Sema Hande Ogutcu-Fu & Evgeny Sedashov & Efe Tokdemir, 2025. "Unique offerings: Ideological competition and rebel governance," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 42(6), pages 690-712, November.
    3. Karen E Albert, 2022. "What is rebel governance? Introducing a new dataset on rebel institutions, 1945–2012," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(4), pages 622-630, July.
    4. Guillermo Kreiman, 2025. "Revolutionary days: Introducing the Latin American Guerrillas Dataset," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 62(2), pages 497-508, March.
    5. Andrea Arroyo Petro & Vincenzo Bove & Jessica Di Salvatore & Roberto Nisticò, 2025. "The legacy of rebel taxation on post-conflict fiscal capacity," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2025-69, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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