Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Finding Mechanisms to Reduce Violence and Support for Armed Groups

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Can development programs and reforms reduce violence and decrease support for armed groups? This research will analyze the impact of three different interventions on violence: land reforms that bolster the rights and land holdings of low-income sharecroppers, a group associated with insurrection; guarantees up to 100 days of individual wage labor for each rural household; and mandated political representation for disadvantaged minorities in village councils. Research will utilize archival and survey-based data -- varying over space and time to measure the effect these programs have on violence and civilian support for governments. The researchers have collected micro-level data both online and in government offices. This project will fund the completion of a stratified random sample survey of approximately 1,500 households across 150 village clusters. By combining measurements of armed group behavior as reported in newspapers with other data collected, this research will determine whether development initiatives affect conflict outcomes. This project will test theories related to how short-term economic incentives affect violent conflict, how long-term economic inequality shapes violence, and how political discrimination impacts the dynamics of civil war. Studying the impact of these large development programs is crucial to improving the livelihoods of the most vulnerable populations, and potentially, finding non-military strategies to ameliorating civil war.