Advanced search
Publication Cover

International Interactions

Empirical and Theoretical Research in International Relations
Volume 38, 2012 - Issue 2
4,701
Views
77
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Anchoring the Peace: Civil Society Actors in Peace Accords and Durable Peace

Pages 243-266
Accepted author version posted online: 31 Jan 2012
Published online:10 Apr 2012
 

Is peace more likely to prevail when the peace accord includes civil society actors such as religious groups, women's organizations, and human rights groups? This is the first statistical study that explores this issue. The article develops key claims in previous research regarding the role of civil society actors and durable peace, and proposes a set of hypotheses that focus on legitimacy in this process. The hypotheses are examined by employing unique data on the inclusion of civil society actors in all peace agreements in the post–Cold War period. The statistical analysis shows that inclusion of civil society actors in the peace settlement increases the durability of peace. The results further demonstrate that peace accords with involvement from civil society actors and political parties in combination are more likely to see peace prevail. The findings also suggest that inclusion of civil society has a particularly profound effect on the prospects for overall peace in nondemocratic societies.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the editor, three reviewers, and colleagues at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, in particular Mats Hammarström, Hanne Fjelde, Ralph Sundberg, Isak Svensson, Mimmi Söderberg Kovacs, Erik Melander, Lisa Hultman, Lotta Themnér, and Stina Högblad for very helpful comments and suggestions. I also would like to thank Jackie Smith and Birger Heldt for generously sharing their respective data. I am grateful for financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, the SYLFF Endowment at Uppsala University, and the Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame. Replication data and an online appendix are available at http://dvn.iq.harvard.edu/dvn/dv/internationalinteractions.

 

Related research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.