The Blessed and the Damned: Peacemakers, Warlords, and Post Civil War Democracy

This thesis seeks to explain how democracies emerge out of the ashes of civil wars. This paper envisions transitions to democracy after a civil war largely as a function of the peace process. Democracy is thought of as a medium through which solutions to the problems and issues over which the civil war was fought can be solved without violence. Transitions to democracy are more likely if there is a large bargaining space and the problems of credible commitments to democratization can be solved. Democratization is more likely if four conditions exist in a state after the civil war: a negotiated settlement, credible commitments via international enforcement, demobilization, and a cooperative international environment. The hypotheses derived are tested through an event history analysis for two different standards of democracy. The results suggest that factors indicative of all four theoretical concepts contribute to the likelihood of democratization after a civil war.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of North Texas

Year dc:date

2007

Author dc:creator

• Wright, Thorin M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Mason, T. David
• Booth, John A.
• Greig, Michael

• civil wars
• conflict management
• democratization
• demobilization
• peacekeeping
• New democracies.
• Democratization.
• Democracy.
• Civil war.
• Peace-building.

Statement dc:rights

• Public
• Copyright
• Wright, Thorin M.
• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

oclc: 191747458
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3901/
ark: ark:/67531/metadc3901

OAI identifier oai:identifier

info:ark/67531/metadc3901