Political party formation by former armed opposition groups after civil war. Issue 6 (18th September 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Manning, Carrie; Smith, Ian
• Is Part Of: Democratization. Volume 23:Issue 6(2016)
• Page Start: 972
• Page End: 989
• Publication Date: 2016-09-18
• Subjects: post-rebel parties -- party formation -- post-war -- civil war -- post-conflict politics; Democracy -- Periodicals; Economic history -- 1990- -- Periodicals; Democratization -- Periodicals; 321.8
• DOI: 10.1080/13510347.2016.1159556
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1351-0347

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Under what conditions are rebel groups successfully incorporated into democratic politics when civil war ends? Using an original cross-national, longitudinal dataset, we examine political party formation by armed opposition groups over a 20-year period, from 1990 to 2009. We find that former armed opposition groups form parties in more than half of our observations. A rebel group's pre-war political experience, characteristics of the war and how it ended outweigh factors such as the country's political and economic traits and history. We advance a theoretical framework based on rebel leaders' expectations of success in post-war politics, and we argue that high rates of party formation by former armed opposition groups are likely a reflection of democratic weakness rather than democratic robustness in countries emerging from conflict.