Rebel Groups' Inclusion and Sustaining Peace and Stability after Civil War

Abstract

Many former rebels and rebel groups have risen to positions of political power following the end of a civil war, either through negotiated peace processes or through rebel victories. Yet relatively little is known about the impact of the political inclusion of former rebels on the prospects for sustaining peace, on political stability and on the durability of any new political institutions. Addressing this gap is vital precisely because former rebels who have risen to positions of political power have fundamental implications for state building, democratic consolidation, and party system development. The behaviour and practices adopted by former rebels, as well as the preconditions prior to the termination of the civil war, are vital. For example, it is necessary to consider to what extent former rebels have a disruptive impact on party systems, whether the inclusion of former rebels embeds informal or clientelist politics, what coalitional practices former rebels adopt, how they treat minority and former opposition groups, and why they engage in the practices that they do. This panel addresses these vital issues by drawing on case evidence from around the world to offer new insights and conceptual frameworks for understanding the impact of former rebels on political stability and institutional development.