Determinants of Militia Performance: Community Capacity and State Regulation

• In Event: Militias, Militaries, and Criminal Gangs

Abstract

Local militias shape contexts of violence across the globe. Their security impact is ambiguous: they are responsible for human rights abuses in some cases and credited with protecting local communities in others. However, previous research has focused one-sidedly on threats emanating from militias to civilians as well as on militias’ military effectiveness. Thus, it remains unclear, under which conditions militias may develop into effective security providers for civilians. We investigate the role of community capacity and state regulation. Local communities with strong institutions can develop effective mechanisms of militia control; the formal state regulation of militias can sanction and strengthen these mechanisms. Jointly, both factors foster the emergence of militias that protect local communities from security threats and refrain from violence against community members. We draw on a mixed-methods design to investigate this argument. We administer a household survey in 100 communities across seven southern states of Mexico that are heavily affected by drug-related cartel violence. We sample communities with confirmed militia presence that vary in terms of (1) local communities’ capacity to control these militias and (2) in terms of the extent of state regulation of militias. We draw on endorsement experiments to gauge people’s subjective assessments of militia performance. We combine these data with rich qualitative information from extensive field research in some 87 communities.

Authors

• Alexander De Juan, Osnabrück University

• Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, Stanford University

• Kristof Gosztonyi

• Jan Koehler, Osnabrueck University

• Beatriz Magaloni, Stanford University