Mobilizing the Masses for Genocide
American Economic Review · 2021 · Volume 111 · Issue 1
Abstract
Do political elites use armed groups to foster civilian participation in genocidal violence? Are armed groups employed strategically? How do they mobilize civilians? I investigate these questions using data from the Rwandan Genocide. To establish causality, I exploit exogenous variation in armed groups' transport costs induced by weather fluctuations: the shortest distance of each village to the main road interacted with rainfall along the dirt tracks between main road and village. I find (i) 1 additional armed-group member resulted in 7.3 more civilian perpetrators; (ii) armed-group leaders employed their men strategically; and (iii) armed groups invoked civilians' obedience.
Keywords
Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior, Conflict, Conflict Resolution, Alliances, Revolutions, Formal and Informal Sectors, Shadow Economy, Institutional Arrangements, Climate, Natural Disasters and Their Management, Global Warming
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