(iPoster) Rewards for Obedience: Repression, Resistance, and State Betrayal

• In Event: Poster Session: Conflict Processes 1

Abstract

Does repression provoke resistance? Divergent empirical findings have been presented in the literature. Incorporating potential public support for repression, this paper emphasizes that the ’credibility of obedient commitment’ plays a key role in understanding this divergence: Compliance with state repression largely depends on the state’s reliability in rewarding obedience. The massacres in Early Qing and the resulting heterogeneous resistance patterns serve as a historical precedent. Using ordinary least squares (OLS) and instrumental variables (IV) estimation, the empirical findings reveal that state betrayals intensified resistance following the massacres, while credible assurances mitigated it. These theoretical and empirical insights shed light on scholarly efforts regarding “punishment puzzles,”thus contributing to the discussion of repression, resistance, and authoritarian resilience.

Author

• Kaidi Zhu, University of Oxford