Decentralization and Intrastate Struggles
Chechnya, Punjab, and Québec

Decentralization may help preserve peace in one country or in one region, but may have the opposite effect in others.

Kristin M. Bakke (Author)

9781107094383, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 June 2015

338 pages, 9 b/w illus. 8 maps 11 tables
23.6 x 16 x 2.8 cm, 0.65 kg

'For decades, both scholars and policy makers have debated the advantages and disadvantages of decentralization in maintaining peace in divided societies; but with little resolution about when it might be desirable. Until now. … Bakke weaves together a compelling set of arguments, statistical analysis, and deeply researched case studies of Chechnya, Punjab, and Quebec to reduce a potentially bewildering array of plausible explanatory factors to the interactions of just a few: the interplay between states and regions, and autonomy and societal traits. The result is a satisfying and useful general explanation unpacking the conditions under which decentralization is war-provoking or peace-preserving.' Monica Duffy Toft, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford

There is no one-size-fits-all decentralized fix to deeply divided and conflict-ridden states. One of the hotly debated policy prescriptions for states facing self-determination demands is some form of decentralized governance - including regional autonomy arrangements and federalism - which grants minority groups a degree of self-rule. Yet the track record of existing decentralized states suggests that these have widely divergent capacity to contain conflicts within their borders. Through in-depth case studies of Chechnya, Punjab and Québec, as well as a statistical cross-country analysis, this book argues that while policy, fiscal approach, and political decentralization can, indeed, be peace-preserving at times, the effects of these institutions are conditioned by traits of the societies they (are meant to) govern. Decentralization may help preserve peace in one country or in one region, but it may have just the opposite effect in a country or region with different ethnic and economic characteristics.

1. 'Peace-preserving' decentralization?
2. Divisions, diversity, and disparity in federal states
3. The First War in Chechnya
4. The rise and decline of the Punjab crisis
5. Québec's sovereignty movement
6. Decentralization and restoring peace after war.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Comparative politics [JPB]