The Quality of Government and Civil Conflict
What does existing research tell us about the relationship between the quality of government and civil conflict? There is no clearly delineated literature that scholars interested in this relationship ascribe to. In general, scholars have devoted more effort to examining variations in the outlook of formal state institutions, rather than how governance is exercised within these structures. We discuss how research falling under other conceptual umbrellas, such as democracy, state repression, inequality, and institutional trust help inform the debate about the relationship between the quality of government and civil conflict. Through this broader lens we synthesize what we know both about the quality of government as a predictor for conflict outbreak and recurrence, and how civil conflict shapes the quality of government, drawing on macro- and micro-level studies. The chapter concludes by pointing towards fruitful avenues for future research.