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Violent Victors

Why Bloodstained Parties Win Postwar Elections
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Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2022

About this book

Why populations brutalized in war elect their tormentors

One of the great puzzles of electoral politics is how parties that commit mass atrocities in war often win the support of victimized populations to establish the postwar political order. Violent Victors traces how parties derived from violent, wartime belligerents successfully campaign as the best providers of future societal peace, attracting votes not just from their core supporters but oftentimes also from the very people they targeted in war.

Drawing on more than two years of groundbreaking fieldwork, Sarah Daly combines case studies of victim voters in Latin America with experimental survey evidence and new data on postwar elections around the world. She argues that, contrary to oft-cited fears, postconflict elections do not necessarily give rise to renewed instability or political violence. Daly demonstrates how war-scarred citizens reward belligerent parties for promising peace and security instead of blaming them for war. Yet, in so casting their ballots, voters sacrifice justice, liberal democracy, and social welfare.

Proposing actionable interventions that can help to moderate these trade-offs, Violent Victors links war outcomes with democratic outcomes to shed essential new light on political life after war and offers global perspectives on important questions about electoral behavior in the wake of mass violence.

Author / Editor information

Sarah Zukerman Daly is associate professor of political science at Columbia University. She is the author of Organized Violence after Civil War: The Geography of Recruitment in Latin America.

Reviews

"[O]utstanding. . . . Daly’s book has a number of methodological innovations that make it stand out, including carefully crafted cross-national evidence and strong case studies of civil war in three Central American countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. One of the book’s biggest contributions . . . is in blending work on civil war with a consideration of the political strategies of parties and a behavioral analysis of voters."---Yeilim Cheong and Stephan Haggard, Political Science Quarterly --- "[A] penetrating study of founding elections in postwar societies. . . . [Violent Victors] is required reading for anyone interested in peacebuilding, justice, democracy, and governance after civil war."---Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez, Peace & Change --- "A must-read."---Mauricio Rivera, Journal of Peace Research --- "Articulates a fascinating and novel puzzle. . . . [and provides] a thorough consideration of alternative explanations."---Michael K. Miller, Perspectives on Politics --- "Violent Victors is a rich, rigorous and comprehensive book that delves into the complex and nuanced relationship between wartime violence and postwar electoral politics, transitional justice and governance."---Laia Balcells, International Affairs --- "Winner of the Leon Epstein Outstanding Book Award, Political Organizations and Parties section of the American Political Science Association" --- "Winner of the Luebbert Best Book Award, Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association"

Topics

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    Frontmatter

    i
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    Contents

    vii
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    Illustrations

    ix
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    Acknowledgments

    xiii
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    Abbreviations

    xvii
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    1 Introduction

    1
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    2 Political Stage, Actors, and Audience

    15
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    3 Violent-Victors Theory of Political Behavior after War

    25
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    4 Postwar Voters and Survey Experiments

    63
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    5 Military Draw in El Salvador

    110
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    6 Government Victory in Guatemala

    158
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    7 Rebel Victory in Nicaragua

    194
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    8 Political Life After War Globally, 1970–2015

    210
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    9 Implications for Postwar Peace, Justice, Democracy, and Governance

    240
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    10 Conclusion

    253
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    Appendix

    263
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    Notes

    277
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    References

    331
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    Index

    369
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
September 29, 2022
eBook ISBN:
9780691231341
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
View content
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691231341
eBook ISBN: 9780691231341
Keywords for this book
Belligerent; Voting; Sandinista National Liberation Front; Non-belligerent; Guatemala; Credential; Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front; Misinformation; Percentage point; War; Citizenship; Valence issue; Provision (contracting); Rule of law; Level of analysis; Cape Verde; Assassination; Politics; Coattail effect; Audre Lorde; Foreign relations; Taxis; Democracy; Enumeration; Rwandan genocide; Power Balance; Uncertainty; Resistance during World War II; The Federalist Papers; Liberal democracy; Determinant; Sustainable development; Archival research; Incident (Scientology); FARC; Ethiopia; Oppression; Case study; Citizens (Spanish political party); International Organization for Migration; Organization of American States; Rhetoric; Domitien Ndayizeye; Null result; Media influence; United States Department of Defense; Gotabhaya Rajapaksa; Result; Western Europe; Security studies; Harvard University; Nicaragua; Regression analysis; Positioning (marketing); Standard Spanish; Central America; El Diario de Hoy; Secondary source; Seminar; State (polity); Ballot; Hutu; Housewife; Advertising; Political strategy; Political communication; Governing (magazine); Expense; Intelligence agency; Duty
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
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