Explaining ethnic and election violence

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Why are some elections violent but not others? Why does ethnic violence occur in some countries but not in others? And how can we explain that some areas and some constituencies are affected by violence, while others remain peaceful? In order to answer these questions, Anika Becher compiled a new data set on ethnic and electoral violence in two African countries for a time span of 20 years. Based on her data, the author shows when and where violence has erupted in Kenya and Malawi since the reintroduction of multiparty elections and studies how differences both between and within the countries can be explained. The author shows that the prevailing explanations for civil war are not sufficient to understand ethnic and electoral violence and that both – while often closely interlinked – have different causes. Large parts of the violence are committed by actors close to the government, which restricts political competition.