Focusing on primary source evidence from militia groups, the analysis reveals the key motivations and influences shaping the development of armed groups after the war. It delves into the complexities of their evolution, offering insights into the factors that drive their actions and decisions in a post-conflict landscape.
The book explores the complex dynamics of militia groups in Colombia after civil conflict, focusing on how recruitment patterns influence the shift from war to peace. Through interviews with militia leaders, combatants, and victims, along with extensive survey data and violence mapping, it reveals the internal and external factors that drive groups toward demilitarization or remilitarization. The findings not only shed light on Colombia's situation but also offer insights applicable to other regions facing similar post-war challenges.
Why populations brutalized in war elect their tormentors One of the great puzzles of electoral politics is how parties that commit mass atrocities in war often win the support of victimized populations to establish the postwar political order. Violent Victors traces how parties derived from violent, wartime belligerents successfully campaign as the best providers of future societal peace, attracting votes not just from their core supporters but oftentimes also from the very people they targeted in war. Drawing on more than two years of groundbreaking fieldwork, Sarah Daly combines case studies of victim voters in Latin America with experimental survey evidence and new data on postwar elections around the world. She argues that, contrary to oft-cited fears, postconflict elections do not necessarily give rise to renewed instability or political violence. Daly demonstrates how war-scarred citizens reward belligerent parties for promising peace and security instead of blaming them for war. Yet, in so casting their ballots, voters sacrifice justice, liberal democracy, and social welfare. Proposing actionable interventions that can help to moderate these trade-offs, Violent Victors links war outcomes with democratic outcomes to shed essential new light on political life after war and offers global perspectives on important questions about electoral behavior in the wake of mass violence.