Violence during democratization and the quality of democratic institutions

Matteo Cervellati, Piergiuseppe Fortunato () and Uwe Sunde

European Economic Review, 2014, vol. 66, issue C, 226-247

Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of violent civil conflicts during the process of democratization on the institutional quality of the emerging democracies. We propose a theory of endogenous regime transition in which violent conflict can arise in equilibrium. Peaceful transitions lead to a social contract that provides all groups with political representation and leads to better protection of civil liberties than violent transitions. Empirical evidence from the third wave of democratization based on a difference-in-difference methodology supports the theoretical predictions. The findings suggest that, compared to peaceful transitions, violent conflicts during the democratic transition have persistent negative effects on the institutional quality of the emerging democracies.

Keywords: Democratization; Civil conflict; Violent democratization; Civil liberties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H10 N10 O20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:66:y:2014:i:c:p:226-247

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2013.12.001

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