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Cited by 1,346Political Conflict and GovernancePost-Soviet Geopolitical DynamicsPolitical Systems and Governance

Why Do Ethnic Groups Rebel? New Data and Analysis

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Cederman, Lars-Erik, Wimmer, Andreas, Min, Brian·2010·World Politics
DOI 10.1017/s0043887109990219
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Abstract

Much of the quantitative literature on civil wars and ethnic conflict ignores the role of the state or treats it as a mere arena for political competition among ethnic groups. Other studies analyze how the state grants or withholds minority rights and faces ethnic protest and rebellion accordingly, while largely overlooking the ethnic power configurations at the state's center. Drawing on a new data set on Ethnic Power Relations (EPR) that identifies all politically relevant ethnic groups and their access to central state power around the world from 1946 through 2005, the authors analyze outbreaks of armed conflict as the result of competing ethnonationalist claims to state power. The findings indicate that representatives of ethnic groups are more likely to initiate conflict with the government (1) the more excluded from state power they are, especially if they have recently lost power, (2) the higher their mobilizational capacity, and (3) the more they have experienced conflict in the past.

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  • Based on EPR data, Cederman, Wimmer and Min (2010) show that excluded ethnic groups, especially those that suffered status reversals, are overrepresented in conflict statistics.

    “Based on these data, Cederman, Wimmer and Min (2010) show that excluded ethnic groups, especially those that suffered status reversals, are overrepresented in conflict statistics.”

    From Dynamics and Logics of Civil War (2017) · cites this paper as Cederman, Wimmer and Min (2010)

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Authors
Cederman, L.-E., Wimmer, A., & Min, B.
Affiliations
  • ETH Zurich (CH)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
ORCID
Venue
World Politics
Publisher
Project MUSE
Published
2009-12-18
Volume
62
Issue
1
Pages
87-119
ISSN
  • 0043-8871 (ISSN-L)
  • 1086-3338
DOI
10.1017/s0043887109990219
OpenAlex
W2009595209
Cited by
1,346
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 39 · 2025: 60 · 2024: 134 · 2023: 69 · 2022: 111 · 2021: 81 · 2020: 206 · 2019: 124 · 2018: 77 · 2017: 71 · 2016: 75 · 2015: 69 · 2014: 91 · 2013: 62 · 2012: 27
FWCI
83.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified)
Locations
  • World Politics (publishedVersion)
  • reroDoc Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) (submittedVersion)
  • Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • ETH Zürich Research Collection
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (105511)
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (105511, 116795)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Post-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Systems and Governance
Keywords
ethnic conflict, civil war, ethnic nationalism, ethnic power relations, state power, minority rights, political mobilization, conflict initiation, ethnic exclusion

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