Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Building Peace Through Institutions? Revisiting the Logic of Institutional Engineering in Divided Societies Through Experiments

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

What is the optimal design for political institutions in deeply divided societies? Which institutional arrangements are best fit to mitigate ethnic tensions and avoid the recurrence of conflicts? The debate revolves around two main paradigms initiated by the seminal works of Arend Lijphart and Donald Horowitz, which differ in their assumptions, expectations, and recommendations to mitigate the potential for ethnic conflict. In the absence of a clear causal mechanism linking political institutions to ethnic conflict, this study stresses the role of electoral appeals as a key variable that is closely tied to conflict in divided societies, and argues that those two theories can indeed coexist in a broader and more fruitful institutional framework. This project provides empirical evidence through a novel experimental approach, specifically designed to address concerns about the validity of results beyond the laboratory. The project makes several contributions. Theoretically, this study constitutes an immediate advancement in the understanding of ethnic conflict three decades after the pioneering work by Horowitz and Lijphart, and will be among the first contributions to overcome empirical challenges for testing those theories. Furthermore it provides an important methodological advancement, as it helps to evaluate the use of laboratory experiment to understand real-world conditions. By replicating the same experiment on student subjects, ethnic communities from New York City, and ethnic groups in post-war Burundi, it is possible to evaluate the extent to which results from laboratory experiment can be generalized to a broader population. This work is also of great interest for the larger literature in ethnic politics, as it provides needed empirical support for the role of political institutions as agents of change of ethnic identities, and it enriches those theories with new causal mechanisms. The involvement of minority groups in the US, as well as ethnic groups previously excluded from power in Burundi, also fosters the participation of under-represented groups in the study. But the impact of the project is broader, as its results will have a substantial impact for policy formulation. The uncertainty surrounding the impact of different governance choices in post-conflict environments has often forced the international community to creatively improvise to rebuild a divided society. Cases like the Balkans would have benefited from well-established theoretical prescriptions for coping effectively with their ethnic tensions in the past, and it is apparent how countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, or Burundi could immediately benefit from clear and reliable recommendations for peace-building efforts, in order to transform their their deep divisions on a successful path for a durable peace.