Restricting public life, creating deadly strife: how political discrimination impacts interethnic conflict

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the effects of different types of political discrimination on interethnic conflict using data on over 200 ethnic groups within over 100 countries. Our results show that political restrictions, in general, significantly increase the likelihood of interethnic conflict. Additionally, our results demonstrate that restrictions on migration and voting rights, in particular, are highly salient predictors of conflict. Our findings suggest that future research on interethnic conflict should further examine the impact of political discrimination. The practical implication of our findings is that policymakers worldwide should seriously consider the potentially deadly ramifications of discriminatory policies.

Citation

Peoples, C.D. and Hsu Schweizer, T. (2008), "Restricting public life, creating deadly strife: how political discrimination impacts interethnic conflict", Coy, P.G. (Ed.) Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change (Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, Vol. 28), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 325-349. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-786X(08)28009-2