GV537-6-FY-CO:
State Fragility, State Building and Conflict
2023/24
Government
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Undergraduate: Level 6
ReassessmentOnly
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 28 June 2024
30
07 March 2022
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
This module examines the interplay between state fragility, political and economic development, state building, and conflict. The first part of the module explores how state capacity and processes of state formation influence the risk of conflict. The second part examines how conflict, violence, and third-party intervention influence post-conflict state-building, development, and broader peace-building processes.
The topics covered in this module include (but are not limited to): the relationship between state capacity and conflict, the political dimensions of state fragility and their effect on civil war and terrorism, the causes and consequences of the "resource curse", the effects of refugee flows and the migration-security nexus, United Nations peacekeeping, post-conflict elections and election monitoring, constitution building, democratization, and human rights.
The aims of this module are:
1. Analyze the interplay between state fragility, political and economic development, state building, and conflict.
2. Familiarize students with rigorous, empirically grounded research on state fragility and state building
In this module students will learn to:
1. Apply theoretical frameworks to understand the dynamics of some of the most conflict prone and unstable areas of the world
2. Identify the challenges to post-conflict state building and assess relevant policy responses
By the end of the course you should be able to:
1. Understand and assess the multiple dimensions of (in)stability and state fragility.
2. Identify and understand the interplay of economic and political drivers of conflict
3. Understand the obstacles to political development and state building in post-conflict societies.
4. Understand the significance of key concepts in conflict resolution studies and their relevance for the analysis of state building.
5. Link theory and evidence in the study of peacekeeping and peacebuilding
6. Apply theoretical frameworks to understand the dynamics of specific conflict and post-conflict states
7. Identify, describe, and critically evaluate solutions to prevent, mitigate and manage civil wars.
No additional information available.
The module will be taught on the basis of one two-hour seminar, sometimes divided into a lecture followed by a class, sometimes combined as a two-hour discussion with a break in the middle.
Students must prepare for each class by reading the materials assigned for the week (under required readings). Attendance is mandatory. Failure to read and/or to attend will make it hard to follow the course and even harder to do well on the essays and tests.
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Mason, T.D. and Mitchell, S.M. (eds) (2016)
What do we know about civil wars? Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Available at:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?pq-origsite=primo&docID=4503352.
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Paris, R. and Sisk, T.D. (2009)
The dilemmas of statebuilding: confronting the contradictions of postwar peace operations. London: Routledge. Available at:
https://search-ebscohost-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=260609.
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Jacob D. Kathman (2016) ‘Ripe for Resolution: Third Party Mediation and Negotiating Peace Agreements’, in T. David Mason and Sara McLaughlin Mitchell (eds)
What do we know about civil wars? Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 92–100. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1216647&site=ehost-live&ebv=EK&ppid=Page-__-92.
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Miles Kahler (2009) ‘Statebuilding after Afghanistan and Iraq’, in
The dilemmas of statebuilding: confronting the contradictions of postwar peace operations. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 287–303. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=260609&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_287.
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Howard, L.M. and Stark, A. (2018) ‘How Civil Wars End: The International System, Norms, and the Role of External Actors’,
International Security, 42(3), pp. 127–171. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1162/ISEC_a_00305.
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Shelley X. Liu (2022) ‘Control, Coercion, and Cooptation: How Rebels Govern after Winning Civil War’,
World Politics, 74(1). Available at:
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/847589.
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The Four Things We Know About How Civil Wars End (and What This Tells Us About Syria) – Political Violence at a Glance (no date). Available at:
http://politicalviolenceataglance.org/2013/10/18/the-four-things-we-know-about-how-civil-wars-end-and-what-this-tells-us-about-syria/.
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Clayton L. Thyne (2016) ‘The Legacies of Civil War: Health, Education, and Economic Development’, in T. David Mason and Sara McLaughlin Mitchell (eds)
What do we know about civil wars? Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 128–140. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1216647&site=ehost-live&ebv=EK&ppid=Page-__-128.
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Christopher Blattman (2009) ‘From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda’,
American Political Science Review, 103(2), pp. 231–247. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055409090212.
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Martin, P.A., Piccolino, G. and Speight, J.S. (2022) ‘The Political Legacies of Rebel Rule: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Côte d’Ivoire’,
Comparative Political Studies, 55(9), pp. 1439–1470. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140211047409.
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Huang, R. (2016)
The Wartime Origins of Democratization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at:
https://www-cambridge-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/core/product/identifier/9781316711323/type/BOOK.
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Costalli, S. and Ruggeri, A. (2015) ‘Forging political entrepreneurs: Civil war effects on post-conflict politics in Italy’,
Political Geography, 44, pp. 40–49. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2014.08.008.
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Paul F. Diehl (2016) ‘Breaking the Conflict Trap: The Impact of Peacekeeping on Violence and Democratization in the Post-Conflict Context’, in T. David Mason and Sara McLaughlin Mitchell (eds)
What do we know about civil wars? Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 113–125. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1216647&site=ehost-live&ebv=EK&ppid=Page-__-113.
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Walter, B.F., Howard, L.M. and Fortna, V.P. (2020) ‘The Extraordinary Relationship between Peacekeeping and Peace’,
British Journal of Political Science, pp. 1–18. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S000712342000023X.
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Di Salvatore, J. and Ruggeri, A. (2020) ‘The Withdrawal of UN Peace Operations and State Capacity: Descriptive Trends and Research Challenges’,
International Peacekeeping, 27(1), pp. 12–21. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/13533312.2019.1710368.
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Virginia Page Fortna (2004) ‘Does Peacekeeping Keep Peace? International Intervention and the Duration of Peace after Civil War’,
International Studies Quarterly, 48(2), pp. 269–292. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3693574?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.
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Hinkkainen Elliott, K., Polo, S.M.T. and Reyes, L.E. (2020) ‘Making Peace or Preventing It? UN Peacekeeping, Terrorism, and Civil War Negotiations’,
International Studies Quarterly [Preprint]. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqaa078.
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Roland Paris and Timothy D. Sisk (2009b)
The dilemmas of statebuilding: confronting the contradictions of postwar peace operations. Abingdon: Routledge. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=260609.
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Timothy D. Sisk (2009) ‘Pathways of the political: Electoral processes after civil war’, in
The dilemmas of statebuilding: confronting the contradictions of postwar peace operations. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 196–224. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=260609&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_196.
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Susan D. Hyde (2011) ‘Catch Us If You Can: Election Monitoring and International Norm Diffusion’,
American Journal of Political Science, 55(2), pp. 356–369. Available at:
https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00508.x.
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Haass, F. and Ottmann, M. (2022) ‘The Effect of Wartime Legacies on Electoral Mobilization after Civil War’,
The Journal of Politics, 84(3), pp. 1322–1336. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1086/718976.
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Kirsti Samuels (2009) ‘Postwar constitution building: Opportunities and challenges’, in
The dilemmas of statebuilding: confronting the contradictions of postwar peace operations. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 173–195. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=260609&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_173.
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Caroline A. Hartzell (2016) ‘Negotiated Peace: Power Sharing in Peace Agreements’, in T. David Mason and Sara McLaughlin Mitchell (eds)
What do we know about civil wars? Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 101–112. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1216647&site=ehost-live&ebv=EK&ppid=Page-__-101.
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LAKE, M. (2022) ‘Policing Insecurity’,
American Political Science Review, 116(3), pp. 858–874. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055421001441.
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T. David Mason and Sara McLaughlin Mitchell (eds) (2016b)
What do we know about civil wars? Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Available at:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4503352.
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Kao, K. and Revkin, M.R. (2021) ‘Retribution or Reconciliation? Post-Conflict Attitudes toward Enemy Collaborators’,
American Journal of Political Science [Preprint]. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12673.
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Enterline, A.J. and Michael Greig, J. (2008) ‘The History of Imposed Democracy and the Future of Iraq and Afghanistan’,
Foreign Policy Analysis, 4(4), pp. 321–347. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-8594.2008.00074.x.
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Olsson, L. and Gizelis, T.-I. (2013) ‘An Introduction to UNSCR 1325’,
International Interactions, 39(4), pp. 425–434. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/03050629.2013.805327.
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Shair-Rosenfield, S. and Wood, R.M. (2017) ‘Governing Well after War: How Improving Female Representation Prolongs Post-conflict Peace’,
The Journal of Politics, 79(3), pp. 995–1009. Available at:
https://search-ebscohost-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=123667337&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=s9814295.
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Buss, D. and Ali, J. (2017) ‘Rwanda: Women’s Political Participation in Post-Conflict State-Building’, in F. Ní Aoláin et al. (eds)
The Oxford Handbook of Gender and Conflict. Oxford University Press. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199300983.013.45.
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Gizelis, T.-I. and Pierre, N.A. (2013) ‘Gender Equality and Postconflict Reconstruction: What Do We Need to Know in Order to Make Gender Mainstreaming Work?’,
International Interactions, 39(4), pp. 601–611. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/03050629.2013.805324.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
Coursework |
In Class Test 2 |
|
30% |
Coursework |
Essay |
|
40% |
Coursework |
In Class Test 1 |
|
30% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Sara Polo, email: sara.polo@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Sara Polo
Dr Sara Polo email sara.polo@essex.ac.uk
Module Administrator: Sallyann West, govquery@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
Yes
Dr Edward Morgan-Jones
University of Kent
Reader in Comparative Politics
Available via Moodle
Of 39 hours, 39 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
Government
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