Voting for Former Collaborators of Insurgent Groups

• In Event: Reintegration and Reconciliation in the Wake of Islamist Armed Conflicts

Abstract

Cities and states transition from rule by armed groups to legitimate governments, concerns regarding integrating former collaborators back into society rise. This process is complicated by the overlap of ethnicity with insurgent groups, and by the fact that collaboration with these groups has often been widespread. Previous work has shown that the nature of collaboration shapes re-integration of civilians, while ethnicity has relatively little impact. Employing a conjoint survey experiment, conducted in Kabul, Afghanistan, this paper extends earlier work from civilian to elite collaborators and considers a case where identity considerations are likely to be important. I find that respondents are less likely to vote for political candidates that have a history of collaboration. I also find that respondents are more likely to vote for co-ethnic collaborators than non-co-ethnic collaborators. Finally, I find that the role a group plays in the conflict determines whether a motivated reasoning of politics or respectability dynamic holds in their assessment of in-group and out-group members.

Author

• Narmin Butt, University of California, San Diego (UCSD)