Date of Award
Fall 10-26-2010
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Carrie Manning
Second Advisor
Jelena Subotic
Third Advisor
Daniel Young
Abstract
With the extant work on civil war duration as a starting point, this project uses the Ugandan case to identify and address theoretical aporias in our existing understanding of the determinants of duration. The vast majority of existing work begins with the assumption that the rebel force is the determining factor in the duration of conflict. Challenging this assumption, I argue that civil war duration should be understood as a function of the calculations made by both the rebel units and the established state, a dynamic that has implications for the way in which we think of the preferences of the state. Finally, that incentive structures exist, given the nature of post-colonial states that lower the utility of peace for elected leadership and reduce their willingness to provide peace as a collective good to the broader population as civil war can be used as one of Jeffrey Herbst’s buffer mechanisms.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/1666501
Recommended Citation
Wishart, Alexandra Z.A., "No Such Thing as Collective Goods: The Political Utility of Low Level Civil War in Northern Uganda." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2010.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1666501