Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-j4x9h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-12T03:57:51.554Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Control, Coercion, and Cooptation

How Rebels Govern after Winning Civil War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2021

Shelley X. Liu Open the ORCID record for Shelley X. Liu [Opens in a new window]
Shelley X. Liu*
Affiliation:
Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
*
E-mail: shelleyxliu@berkeley.edu
Get access

Abstract

This article examines how rebels govern after winning a civil war. During war, both sides—rebels and their rivals—form ties with civilians to facilitate governance and to establish control. To consolidate power after war, the new rebel government engages in control through its ties in its wartime strongholds, through coercion in rival strongholds where rivals retain ties, and through cooptation by deploying loyal bureaucrats to oversee development in unsecured terrain where its ties are weak. These strategies help to explain subnational differences in postwar development. The author analyzes Zimbabwe's Liberation War (1972–1979) and its postwar politics (1980–1987) using a difference-in-differences identification strategy that leverages large-scale education reforms. Quantitative results show that development increased most quickly in unsecured terrain and least quickly in rival strongholds. Qualitative evidence from archival and interview data confirms the theorized logic. The findings deepen understanding of transitions from conflict to peace and offer important insights about how wartime experiences affect postwar politics.

Keywords

conflictpostconflict developmentrebel governancestate buildingsub-Saharan AfricaZimbabwe

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 74 , Issue 1 , January 2022 , pp. 37 - 76
Copyright
Copyright © 2021 Trustees of Princeton University

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Alexander, Jocelyn. 1994. “State, Peasantry and Resettlement in Zimbabwe.” Review of African Political Economy 21, no. 61: 325–45. At https://doi.org/10.1080/03056249408704063.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander, Jocelyn. 1998. “Dissident Perspectives on Zimbabwe's Post-Independence War.” Africa 68, no. 2: 151–82. At https://doi.org/10.2307/1161277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander, Jocelyn, McGregor, Joanne, and Ranger, Terence O.. 2000. Violence and Memory: One Hundred Years in the ‘Dark Forests’ of Matabeleland, Zimbabwe. Oxford, UK: James Currey.Google Scholar
Arjona, Ana. 2016. Rebelocracy: Social Order in the Colombian Civil War. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arjona, Ana, Kasfir, Nelson, and Mampilly, Zachariah. 2015. Rebel Governance in Civil War. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arreguin-Toft, Ivan. 2001. “How the Weak Win Wars: A Theory of Asymmetric Conflict.” International Security 26, no. 1: 93–128. At https://doi.org/10.1162/016228801753212868.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balcells, Laia. 2011. “Continuation of Politics by Two Means: Direct and Indirect Violence in Civil War.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 55, no. 3: 397–422. At https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002711400865.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balcells, Laia. 2017. Rivalry and Revenge: The Politics of Violence During Civil War. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baldwin, Kate. 2013. “Why Vote with the Chief? Political Connections and Public Goods Provision in Zambia.” American Journal of Political Science 57, no. 4: 794–809. At https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12023.Google Scholar
Barter, Shane Joshua. 2015. “The Rebel State in Society: Governance and Accommodation in Aceh, Indonesia.” In Arjona, Ana, Kasfir, Nelson, and Mampilly, Zachariah, eds., Rebel Governance in Civil War. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press: 226–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhebe, Ngwabi. 1999. The ZAPU and ZANU Guerrilla Warfare and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe. Gweru, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press.Google Scholar
de Mesquita, Bueno, Bruce, James D. Morrow, Randolph M. Siverson, and Alastair Smith, . 2002. “Political Institutions, Policy Choice and the Survival of Leaders.” British Journal of Political Science 32, no. 4: 559–90. At https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123402000236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe. 1997. A Report on the Disturbances in Matabeleland and the Midlands, 1980–1988. Harare, Zimbabwe: Jesuit Archives.Google Scholar
Centeno, Miguel Angel. 1997. “Blood and Debt: War and Taxation in Nineteenth-Century Latin America.” American Journal of Sociology 102, no. 6: 1565–605. At https://doi.org/10.1086/231127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cliffe, Lionel, Mpofu, Joshua, and Munslow, Barry. 1980. “Nationalist Politics in Zimbabwe: The 1980 Elections and Beyond.” Review of African Political Economy, no. 18: 44–67. At https://doi.org/10.1080/03056248008703424.Google Scholar
Daly, Sarah Zukerman. 2016. Organized Violence After Civil War: The Geography of Recruitment in Latin America. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daly, Sarah Zukerman, Paler, Laura, and Samii, Cyrus. 2020. “Wartime Ties and the Social Logic of Crime.” Journal of Peace Research 57, no. 4: 536–50. At https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343319897098.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Förster, Till. 2015. “Dialogue Direct: Rebel Governance and Civil Order in Northern Côte d'Ivoire.” In Arjona, Ana, Kasfir, Nelson, and Mampilly, Zachariah, eds., Rebel Governance in Civil War. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press: 203–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gottlieb, Jessica, and Larreguy, Horacio. 2020. “An Informational Theory of Electoral Targeting in Young Clientelistic Democracies: Evidence from Senegal.” Quarterly Journal of Political Science 15, no. 1: 73–104. At https://doi.org/10.1561/100.00019018.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Habyarimana, James, Humphreys, Macartan, Posner, Daniel N., and Weinstein, Jeremy M.. 2007. “Why Does Ethnic Diversity Undermine Public Goods Provision?” American Political Science Review 101, no. 4: 709–25. At https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055407070499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassan, Mai. 2017. “The Strategic Shuffle: Ethnic Geography, the Internal Security Apparatus, and Elections in Kenya.” American Journal of Political Science 61, no. 2: 382–95. At https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, Reyko. 2016. The Wartime Origins of Democratization: Civil War, Rebel Governance, and Political Regimes. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iyer, Lakshmi, and Mani, Anandi. 2012. “Traveling Agents: Political Change and Bureaucratic Turnover in India.” Review of Economics and Statistics 94, no. 3: 723–39. At https://doi.org/10.1162/REST_a_00183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalyvas, Stathis N. 2006. The Logic of Violence in Civil War. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanyongo, Gibbs Y. 2005. “Zimbabwe's Public Education System Reforms: Successes and Challenges.” International Education Journal 6, no. 1: 65–74. At https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ854955, accessed September 16, 2021.Google Scholar
Kramon, Eric, and Posner, Daniel N.. 2013. “Who Benefits from Distributive Politics? How the Outcome One Studies Affects the Answer One Gets.” Perspectives on Politics 11, no. 3: 461–74. At https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592713001035.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kriger, Norma J. 1991. Zimbabwe's Guerrilla War: Peasant Voices. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kriger, Norma J. 2003. Guerrilla Veterans in Postwar Zimbabwe: Symbolic and Violent Politics, 1980–1987, African Studies Series, no. 105. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lan, David. 1985. Guns and Rain: Guerrillas and Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe. Berkeley and Los Angeles, Calif.: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Lazarev, Egor. 2019. “Laws in Conflict: Legacies of War, Gender, and Legal Pluralism in Chechnya.” World Politics 71, no. 4 (October): 667–709. At https://doi.org/10.1017/s0043887119000133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lenneiye, Mungai. 2000. “Testing Community Empowerment Strategies in Zimbabwe: Examples from Nutrition Supplementation and Water Supply and Sanitation Programmes.” IDS Bulletin 31, no. 1: 21–29. At https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1759-5436.2000.mp31001003.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Shelley X. 2021a. “Replication data for: Control, Coercion, and Cooptation: How Rebels Govern after Winning Civil War.” Harvard Dataverse, V1. At https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/2AISQ9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Shelley X. 2021b. “Supplementary material for: Control, Coercion, and Cooptation: How Rebels Govern after Winning Civil War.” At https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887121000174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mabhena, Clifford. 2014. “Ethnicity, Development and the Dynamics of Political Domination in Southern Matabeleland.” ISOR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) 19, no. 4, ver. III: 137–49. At https://doi.org/10.9790/0837-1943137149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magouirk, Justin. 2008. “The Nefarious Helping Hand: Anti-Corruption Campaigns, Social Service Provision, and Terrorism.” Terrorism and Political Violence 20, no. 3: 356–75. At https://doi.org/10.1080/09546550802073318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magure, Booker. 2009. “Civil Society's Quest for Democracy in Zimbabwe: Origins, Barriers and Prospects, 1900–2008.” Ph.D. diss., Rhodes University, Department of Political and International Studies.Google Scholar
Mampilly, Zachariah. 2011. Rebel Rulers: Insurgent Governance and Civilian Life During War. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Mampilly, Zachariah. 2015. “Performing the Nation-State: Rebel Governance and Symbolic Processes.” In Arjona, Ana, Kasfir, Nelson, and Mampilly, Zachariah, eds., Rebel Governance in Civil War. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press: 74–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mampilly, Zachariah, and Stewart, Megan A. 2021. “A Typology of Rebel Political Institutional Arrangements.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 65, no. 1: 15–45. At https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002720935642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, T. David, Gurses, Mehmet, Brandt, Patrick T., and Quinn, Jason Michael. 2011. “When Civil Wars Recur: Conditions for Durable Peace after Civil Wars.” International Studies Perspectives 12, no. 2: 171–89. At https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-3585.2011.00426.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, Michael. 1984. “The Autonomous Power of the State: Its Origins, Mechanisms and Results.” European Journal of Sociology/Archives Européennes de Sociologie 25, no. 2: 185–213. At https://www.jstor.org/stable/23999270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mao, Zedong. 1961. On Guerrilla Warfare. Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Martin, Philip A. 2020. “Commander–Community Ties after Civil War.” Journal of Peace Research 58, no. 4: 778–93. At https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343320929744.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehler, Andreas. 2009. “Peace and Power Sharing in Africa: A Not so Obvious Relationship.” African Affairs 108, no. 432: 453–73. At https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adp038.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Migdal, Joel S. 1988. Strong Societies and Weak States: State-Society Relations and State Capabilities in the Third World. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education. 1983. Ministry of Education Report, 1983. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe: National Archives of Zimbabwe.Google Scholar
Minnesota Population Center. 2019. IPUMS Census and Survey Data. Twin Cities, Minn.: University of Minnesota. At https://www.ipums.org, accessed September 24, 2021.Google Scholar
Murithi, Timothy, and Mawadza, Aquilina. 2011. Zimbabwe in Transition: A View from Within. Auckland Park, South Africa: Jacana Media.Google Scholar
Mutizwa-Mangiza, N. D. 1992. “Rural Local Government Finance in Zimbabwe: The Case of Gokwe District Council.” Public Administration and Development 12, no. 1: 111–22. At https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230120109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Müller, Tanja R. 2012. “From Rebel Governance to State Consolidation–Dynamics of Loyalty and the Securitisation of the State in Eritrea.” Geoforum 43, no. 4: 793–803. At https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2012.01.009.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nichter, Simeon. 2008. “Vote Buying or Turnout Buying? Machine Politics and the Secret Ballot.” American Political Science Review 102, no. 1: 19–31. At https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003055408080106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Podder, Sukanya. 2014. “State Building and the Non-State: Debating Key Dilemmas.” Third World Quarterly 35, no. 9: 1615–35. At https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2014.970864.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, J. Michael, David Mason, T., and Gurses, Mehmet. 2007. “Sustaining the Peace: Determinants of Civil War Recurrence.” International Interactions 33, no. 2: 167–93. At https://doi.org/10.1080/03050620701277673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ranger, Terence O. 1985. Peasant Consciousness and Guerilla War in Zimbabwe: A Comparative Study. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Sadomba, Zvakanyorwa Wilbert. 2011. War Veterans in Zimbabwe's Revolution: Challenging Neo-Colonialism & Settler & International Capital. Harare, Zimbabwe: Weaver Press; Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, and Rochester, N.Y.: James Currey.Google Scholar
Sánchez de la Sierra, Raúl. 2020. “On the Origin of the State: Stationary Bandits and Taxation in Eastern Congo.” Journal of Political Economy 128, no. 1: 32–74. At https://doi.org/10.1086/703989.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saruchera, Munyaradzi, and Matsungo, Oscar. 2003. “Understanding Local Perspectives: Participation of Resource Poor Farmers in Biotechnology–the Case of Wedza District of Zimbabwe.” Background Paper. Brighton, UK: University of Sussex, Institute of Development Studies.Google Scholar
Soifer, Hillel David. 2015. State Building in Latin America. New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, Megan A. 2018. “Civil War as State-Making: Strategic Governance in Civil War.” International Organization 72, no. 1: 205–26. At https://doi.org/10.1017/s0020818317000418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilly, Charles. 2017 [1978]. “From Mobilization to Revolution.” In Casteneda, Ernesto and Schneider, Cathy Lisa, eds., Collective Violence, Contentious Politics, and Social Change: The Charles Tilly Reader. New York, N.Y.: Routledge: 71–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilly, Charles. 2002 [1985]. “War Making and State Making as Organized Crime.” In Besteman, Catherine, ed., Violence: A Reader. New York, N.Y.: New York University Press: 35–60.Google Scholar
Toft, Monica Duffy. 2010. “Ending Civil Wars: A Case for Rebel Victory?” International Security 34, no. 4: 7–36. At https://doi.org/10.1162/isec.2010.34.4.7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valentino, Benjamin, Huth, Paul, and Balch-Lindsay, Dylan. 2004. “‘Draining the Sea’: Mass Killing and Guerrilla Warfare.” International Organization 58, no. 2: 375–407. At https://doi.org/10.1017/s0020818304582061.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walter, Barbara F. 1997. “The Critical Barrier to Civil War Settlement.” International Organization 51, no. 3: 335–64. At https://doi.org/10.1162/002081897550384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walter, Barbara F. 2004. “Does Conflict Beget Conflict? Explaining Recurring Civil War.” Journal of Peace Research 41, no. 3: 371–88. At https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343304043775.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, Max. 1946. “Politics as a Vocation.” In Gerth, H. H. and Wright Mills, C., eds., From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press: 77–128.Google Scholar
Weinstein, Jeremy M. 2005. “Autonomous Recovery and International Intervention in Comparative Perspective.” At https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1114117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, Elisabeth Jean. 2008. “The Social Processes of Civil War: The Wartime Transformation of Social Networks.” Annual Review of Political Science, 11: 539–61. At https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.8.082103.104832.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: Link

Liu Dataset

Dataset

https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/2AISQ9
Link
Supplementary material: PDF

Liu supplementary material

Liu supplementary material

Download Liu supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 371.8 KB