TY  - GEN
AB  - Prevailing theories of democracy focus on class conflict. In contrast, we study democratic transition when ethnic tensions are more salient than the poor/rich divide, building a model where (i) ethnic groups negotiate about allocating the economic surplus and (ii) military and political mobilizations rest on the unobserved strength of ethnic attachment. Free and fair elections elicit information and restore inter-ethnic bargaining efficiency. Autocrats can rationally choose democratic transition, even if they risk losing power, as elections reduce the opposition’s informational rent. The predictions of our framework are consistent with novel country-level and ethnic group-level panel correlational evidence on democratization in the post-decolonization period.
AU  - Laurent-Lucchetti, Jérémy
AU  - Rohner, Dominic
AU  - Thoenig, Mathias
DA  - 2024
DO  - 10.1093/jeea/jvad031
DO  - doi
ID  - 302676
KW  - Democracy and Sovereignty
KW  - Peace, War and Conflict
L1  - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/302676/files/jvad031.pdf
L2  - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/302676/files/jvad031.pdf
L4  - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/302676/files/jvad031.pdf
LK  - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/302676/files/jvad031.pdf
N2  - Prevailing theories of democracy focus on class conflict. In contrast, we study democratic transition when ethnic tensions are more salient than the poor/rich divide, building a model where (i) ethnic groups negotiate about allocating the economic surplus and (ii) military and political mobilizations rest on the unobserved strength of ethnic attachment. Free and fair elections elicit information and restore inter-ethnic bargaining efficiency. Autocrats can rationally choose democratic transition, even if they risk losing power, as elections reduce the opposition’s informational rent. The predictions of our framework are consistent with novel country-level and ethnic group-level panel correlational evidence on democratization in the post-decolonization period.
PY  - 2024
T1  - Ethnic conflict and the informational dividend of democracy
TI  - Ethnic conflict and the informational dividend of democracy
UR  - https://repository.graduateinstitute.ch/record/302676/files/jvad031.pdf
Y1  - 2024
ER  -