Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
| Online Publication Date: 12 Nov 2007
Confronting Oppression with Violence: Inequality, Military Infrastructure and Dissident Repression
Confronting Oppression with Violence: Inequality, Military Infrastructure and Dissident Repression
Page Range: 219 – 238
This study examines the relationships between collective violence, economic inequality, and repression. Some researchers propose that collective violence results from economic deprivation, while others emphasize the role of repression in producing violence. This study uses polynomial equations to analyze these relationships on 52 countries. Results suggest that collective violence varies as a cubic non-monotonic "N" shaped function of repression, while economic inequality is not directly related to violence. A strong military infrastructure is also found to deter collective violence. The combination of results supports the argument that extremely repressive regimes with weak military infrastructures tend to encourage a backlash of violence.
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