IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hic/wpaper/144.html

Trusting the Enemy: Confidence in the state among ex-combatants

Author

Listed:
  • Enzo Nussio

    (Universidad de los Andes (Bogot�))

  • Ben Oppenheim

    (University of California, Berkeley)

Abstract

War-torn societies are often racked with generalized distrust, both among citizens and between citizens and the state. Even long after conflict ends, former combatants who participated in violence and challenged the state�s monopoly on the legitimate use of force may have an especially unsettled relationship with the state. After demobilization, their potential relapse into armed struggle is thought to pose a severe risk to security and stability. What factors determine ex-combatants� degree of trust in the state after their demobilization? We present the first empirical examination of this question through a survey of 1,485 former members of paramilitary and guerrilla groups in Colombia. We find limited support for social theories of trust: our analysis indicates that participation in civic and association life has no discernible impact on ex-combatants� trust in the state. However, contrary to the warnings of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) practitioners, continuing connection between former fighters has a neutral to positive impact on trust, especially for former guerrilla. We find that intense socialization within the armed group during wartime has a corrosive impact on trust in the state, even years after demobilization. This finding suggests that the formation of �anti-social capital� may be difficult to reverse. With respect to institutional theories of trust, ex-combatants who perceive that the state performs well in important policy areas, such as the protection of civil and political rights, exhibit stronger trust. However, while conventional wisdom holds that ex-combatants are principally interested in material benefits we find no relationship between individual measures of well-being, including unemployment, and lower levels of trust in the state.

Suggested Citation

  • Enzo Nussio & Ben Oppenheim, 2013. "Trusting the Enemy: Confidence in the state among ex-combatants," HiCN Working Papers 144, Households in Conflict Network.
    • Handle: RePEc:hic:wpaper:144
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hicn.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/HiCN-WP-144.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barbara F. Walter, 2004. "Does Conflict Beget Conflict? Explaining Recurring Civil War," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 41(3), pages 371-388, May.
    2. Macartan Humphreys & Jeremy M. Weinstein, 2007. "Demobilization and Reintegration," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 51(4), pages 531-567, August.
    3. Margaret Levi, 1996. "Social and Unsocial Capital: A Review Essay of Robert Putnam's Making Democracy Work," Politics & Society, , vol. 24(1), pages 45-55, March.
    4. Hetherington, Marc J., 1998. "The Political Relevance of Political Trust," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 92(4), pages 791-808, December.
    5. 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.
    6. Maria Hadjipavlou, 2007. "The Cyprus Conflict: Root Causes and Implications for Peacebuilding," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 44(3), pages 349-365, May.
    7. Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín, 2008. "Telling the Difference: Guerrillas and Paramilitaries in the Colombian War," Politics & Society, , vol. 36(1), pages 3-34, March.
    8. repec:wbk:wbpubs:13938 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Marc L Hutchison & Kristin Johnson, 2011. "Capacity to trust? Institutional capacity, conflict, and political trust in Africa, 2000–2005," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 48(6), pages 737-752, November.
    10. Susan Rose-Ackerman, "undated". "Trust, Honesty, and Corruption: Reflection on the State-Building Process," Yale Law School John M. Olin Center for Studies in Law, Economics, and Public Policy Working Paper Series yale_lepp-1013, Yale Law School John M. Olin Center for Studies in Law, Economics, and Public Policy.
    11. George Mavrotas (ed.), 2011. "Security and Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14631.
    12. Muller, Edward N. & Seligson, Mitchell A., 1994. "Civic Culture and Democracy: The Question of Causal Relationships," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(3), pages 635-652, September.
    13. Christopher Blattman & Jeannie Annan, 2010. "The Consequences of Child Soldiering," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 882-898, November.
    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. Christopher Blattman & Edward Miguel, 2010. "Civil War," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(1), pages 3-57, March.
    2. 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.
    3. Michal Bauer & Nathan Fiala & Ian Levely, 2018. "Trusting Former Rebels: An Experimental Approach to Understanding Reintegration after Civil War," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(613), pages 1786-1819, August.
    4. Brück, Tilman & Justino, Patricia & Verwimp, Philip & Avdeenko, Alexandra, 2010. "Identifying Conflict and Violence in Micro-Level Surveys," IZA Discussion Papers 5067, IZA Network @ LISER.
    5. Achyuta Adhvaryu & James Fenske, 2013. "War, resilience and political engagement in Africa," CSAE Working Paper Series 2013-08, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    6. Achyuta Adhvaryu & James Fenske, 2023. "Conflict and the Formation of Political Beliefs in Africa," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(2), pages 403-442.
    7. Christopher Blattman, 2009. "Civil War: A Review of Fifty Years of Research," Working Papers id:2231, eSocialSciences.
    8. Rohner, Dominic & Couttenier, Mathieu & Preotu, Veronica, 2016. "The Violent Legacy of Victimization: Post-Conflict Evidence on Asylum Seekers, Crimes and Public Policy in Switzerland," CEPR Discussion Papers 11079, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    9. Akresh, Richard & Lucchetti, Leonardo & Thirumurthy, Harsha, 2012. "Wars and child health: Evidence from the Eritrean–Ethiopian conflict," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 330-340.
    10. Yi Fan, 2017. "Does Adversity Affect Long-Term Consumption and Financial Behaviour? Evidence from China's Rustication Programme," ERES eres2017_148, European Real Estate Society (ERES).
    11. Tilman Br�ck & Patricia Justino & Philip Verwimp & Andrew Tedesco & Alexandra Avdeenko, 2013. "Measuring Conflict Exposure in Micro-Level Surveys," HiCN Working Papers 153, Households in Conflict Network.
    12. 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.
    13. Jean-Paul Azam & Kartika Bhatia, 2017. "Provoking insurgency in a federal state: theory and application to India," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 183-210, March.
    14. Jia LI & Takahiro ITO & Ramila USOOF-THOWFEEK & Koji YAMAZAKI, 2021. "The scars of the Eelam War: Eroded trust, heightened ethnic identity, and political legacies in north-eastern Sri Lanka," GSICS Working Paper Series 38, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University.
    15. Mohamed, Issam A.W., 2011. "Challenges of formal social security systems in Sudan," MPRA Paper 31611, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Alvaro Morales & Prakarsh Singh, 2014. "The Effect of Civil Conflict on Child Abuse: Evidence from Peru," HiCN Working Papers 187, Households in Conflict Network.
    17. Patricia Justino, 2017. "Food Security, Peacebuilding and Gender Equality: Conceptual Framework and Future Directions," HiCN Working Papers 257, Households in Conflict Network.
    18. Mugizi, Francisco M.P. & Matsumoto, Tomoya, 2021. "From conflict to conflicts: War-induced displacement, land conflicts, and agricultural productivity in post-war Northern Uganda," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    19. Ian Levely, 2012. "Measuring Intermediate Outcomes of Liberia’s DDRR Program," Working Papers IES 2012/2, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised Feb 2012.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hic:wpaper:144. 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: Tilman Brück or the person in charge or the person in charge or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hicn.org/ .

    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.