Journal article

Roads to rule, roads to rebel: relational state capacity and conflict in Africa

Abstract:: Weak state capacity is one of the most important explanations of civil conflict. Yet, current conceptualizations of state capacity typically focus only on the state while ignoring the relational nature of armed conflict. We argue that opportunities for conflict arise where relational state capacity is low, that is, where the state has less control over its subjects than its potential challengers. This occurs in ethnic groups that are poorly accessible from the state capital, but are internally highly interconnected. To test this argument, we digitize detailed African road maps and convert them into a road atlas akin to Google Maps. We measure the accessibility and internal connectedness of groups via travel times obtained from this atlas and simulate road networks for an instrumental variable design. Our findings suggest that low relational state capacity increases the risk of armed conflict in Africa.

Publication status:: Published

Peer review status:: Peer reviewed

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APA Style

Müller-Crepon, C. A. H., Hunziker, P., & Cederman, L.-E. (2020). Roads to rule, roads to rebel: relational state capacity and conflict in Africa. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 65(2-3), 563–590.

MLA Style

Müller-Crepon, CAH, et al. “Roads to Rule, Roads to Rebel: Relational State Capacity and Conflict in Africa.” Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 65, nos. 2-3, 2020, pp. 563–90.

Chicago Style

Müller-Crepon, CAH, P Hunziker, and L-E Cederman. 2020. “Roads to Rule, Roads to Rebel: Relational State Capacity and Conflict in Africa.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 65 (2-3): 563–90.
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Files:: 0022002720963674.pdf

(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 770.2KB, Terms of use)

Publisher copy:: 10.1177/0022002720963674

Authors

+ Müller-Crepon, CAH More by this author

Institution:: University of Oxford
Division:: SSD
Department:: Politics & Int Relations
Role:: Author

+ Hunziker, P More by this author

Role:: Author

+ Cederman, L-E More by this author

Role:: Author

Publisher:: SAGE Publications
Journal:: Journal of Conflict Resolution More from this journal
Volume:: 65
Issue:: 2-3
Pages:: 563-590
Publication date:: 2020-10-06
Acceptance date:: 2020-08-17
DOI:: 10.1177/0022002720963674
EISSN:: 1552-8766
ISSN:: 0022-0027

Language:: English
Keywords:: FFR

civil wars

ethnic groups

Africa

state capacity
Pubs id:: 1135924
Local pid:: pubs:1135924
Deposit date:: 2020-10-02
ARK identifier:: ark:/29072/ora_1a1a6ab0eb944684b808d85477b2ba7e

Terms of use

Copyright holder:: Müller-Crepon, CAH et al.
Copyright date:: 2020
Rights statement:: © The Author(s) 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Licence:: CC Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)

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