State-building after Civil War
| Module title | State-building after Civil War |
|---|---|
| Module code | POLM088 |
| Academic year | 2024/5 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Dr Elena Gadjanova (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 20 |
|---|
Module description
After civil wars, there are no easy choices. How can opposing groups commit to the post-conflict order? How can transitional justice be achieved while reconstruction remains sustainable? Which institutions can better guarantee long-term stability? These are some of the most difficult questions and harrowing dilemmas academics and policy practitioners will ever face. This module will provide a systematic, thorough, and nuanced introduction to the challenges to restoring and maintaining peace, and to effective state-building after civil war. You will learn about the main theories explaining why and how intractable intra-state conflicts emerge, understand the nature of debates on the sequencing of reforms after conflict, and evaluate the pros and cons of different institutional arrangements for divided societies. The module will equip you with the analytical toolkit, conceptual knowledge, and case study background to undertake leading roles in policy-making, think-tanks or NGOs working in the field of post-conflict reconstruction, or pursue further academic research on the topic.
Module aims - intentions of the module
The module aims to provide you with a conceptual and theoretical background to the most common type of armed conflict in the world today: civil wars. It begins by introducing the academic literature dealing with the types, onset, and duration of civil wars and the various motivations of participants. We will then delve into the different measures taken to restore peace and ensure it persists. We will also closely examine the ways various domestic and international actors have attempted to re-build states through institutional design. Drawing on both historical and recent case studies from around the world, you will be able to acquire a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities to peace-making and state-building after conflict and discuss them in relation to a number of past or current conflicts.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Clearly distinguish between civil wars and other types of armed conflict.
- 2. Have a solid grasp of the main causes and drivers of civil wars.
- 3. Critically assess the relative success of different ways to end civil wars.
- 4. Gain a solid understanding of the theories underpinning different approaches to state-building after civil war.
- 5. Gain in-depth empirical knowledge of a number of past or ongoing civil wars and state-building efforts.
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 6. Critically engage with the literature on the state, political order, and state-building from Political Science and International Relations.
- 7. Demonstrate clear theoretical understanding of major approaches to the study of the onset, duration, and termination of civil wars from International Relations and Political Science.
- 8. Improved understanding of the comparative method in Political Science.
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 9. Demonstrate improved analytical reasoning.
- 10. Synthesize large amount of material and present clear arguments and recommendations.
- 11. Provide constructive feedback to your peers.
Syllabus plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- State-building and civil wars – key concepts and dilemmas
- Origins of civil wars: security dilemmas
- Origins of civil wars: identities and interests
- Civil war onset and duration
- Ending civil wars: negotiation, peace-keeping, partition
- Constitutional design for divided societies
- Strengthening institutions and maintaining political order after civil war
- Promoting democracy in weak states
- Case studies and student presentations
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 278 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 22 | 11 x 2 hour weekly seminars. |
| Guided independent study | 60 | Complete weekly reading assignments. |
| Guided independent study | 188 | Research, and drafting of policy memo, paper outline, and final paper |
| Guided independent study | 30 | Research and preparation for in-class presentation |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outline of course paper | 1 page A4 | 1-10 | Written |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | 0 | 30 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation | 30 | 10 minutes + 5 minutes for Q&A | 5-8, 11 | Written and oral |
| Course paper | 70 | 5,000 words | 1-10 | Written |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Policy memo | Policy memo (1,500 words) | 1-3, 5, 10 | August/September reassessment period. |
| Presentation | Essay (1,500 words) | 5-8 | August/September reassessment period. |
| Course paper | Course paper (5,000 words) | 1-10 | August/September reassessment period. |
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Basic reading:
Autessere, Severine. 2010. The Trouble with the Congo: Local Violence and the Failure of International Peacebuilding. Cambridge University Press.
Cederman, Lars-Erik, Andreas Wimmer, Brian Min. 2010. “Why Do Ethnic Groups Rebel? New Data and Analysis, World Politics 62: 87-119.
Collier, Paul and Anke Hoeffler. 2004. “Greed and Grievance in Civil War,” Oxford Economic Papers
56, no. 4: 563-595.
Doyle, Michael and Nicholas Sambanis. 2000. “International Peacebuilding: a Theoretical and Quantitative Analysis”, American Political Science Review 94: 779-801.
Doyle, Michael W., and Nicholas Sambanis. 2006. Making War and Building Peace: United Nations Peace Operations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Fortna, Virginia Page. 2004. “Does Peacekeeping Keep Peace? International Intervention and the Duration of Peace after Civil War”, International Studies Quarterly 48: 269-292.
Gurr, Robert Ted. 1968. “Psychological Factors in Civil Violence,” World Politics 20, no. 2: 245-278.
Hartzel, Caroline. 1999. “Explaining the Stability of Negotiated Settlements to Intrastate Wars” The Journal of Conflict Resolution 43: 3-22.
Kalyvas, Stathis. 2006. The Logic of Violence in Civil War, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kuperman, Alan. 2004. “Is Partition Really the Only Hope? Reconciling Contradictory Findings about Ethnic Civil Wars”, Security Studies 13:4: 314-349.
Licklider, Roy. 1995. “How Civil Wars End”, Stopping the Killing: How Civil Wars End, NY: NYU Press.
Lijphart, Arendt. 2004. “Constitutional Design for Divided Societies”, Journal of Democracy 15: 96-109.
Olson, Mancur. 2000. Power and Prosperity. New York: Basic Books, Chapter 1.
Posen, Barry R. 1993. “The Security Dilemma and Ethnic Conflict,” Survival 35: 27-47
Power, Samantha. 2013. A Problem from Hell. America and the Age of Genocide. Basic Books.
Walter, Barbara. 1999. “Designing Transitions from Civil War: Demobilization, Democratization, and Commitments to Peace”, International Security 24: 127-155.
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
PRIO data on armed conflict: https://www.prio.org/Data/Armed-Conflict/
Uppsala conflict data program: http://ucdp.uu.se
ETH Zurich international conflict research data: https://icr.ethz.ch/data/
Political violence at a glance: http://politicalviolenceataglance.org
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 7 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 01/03/2018 |
| Last revision date | 25/04/2022 |
