Recent studies suggested that political exclusion of ethnic groups fuels civil conflict, but this research counters critics who claim endogeneity issues may skew these findings.
We analyze historical colonial rule's impact by examining differences between French and British colonies. This method isolates the effect of postcolonial power-sharing arrangements from potential conflict triggers.
Our results show political inclusion significantly reduces conflict risk, a finding understated in prior research.
These findings suggest policymakers should consider inclusive governance structures as effective tools for maintaining peace.
| Who Inherits the State? Colonial Rule and Postcolonial Conflict was authored by Julian Wucherpfennig, Philipp Hunziker and Lars-Erik Cederman. It was published by Wiley in AJPS in 2016. |
