Leaders' Motivations and Actions: Explaining Government-Dissident Conflict-Cooperation Processes

Author: Shellman Stephen  

Publisher: Routledge Ltd

ISSN: 0738-8942

Source: Conflict Management and Peace Science, Vol.23, Iss.1, 2006-0, pp. : 73-90

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Abstract

This study posits a theory to explain government and dissident sequential responses to one another and develops a statistical model to test the implied hypotheses. While competing hypotheses emerge from both formal and empirical models, the current literature lacks a single, coherent, theoretical, and empirically corroborated model of the interactive relationship between dissident and government behavior. The study seeks to fill this lacuna in the literature by developing a comprehensive theory to account for a large number of competing hypotheses within a single framework. The subsequent empirical tests enable one to find support for the various competing hypotheses under different sets of conditions. The analyses of Chile (1983–1992) and Venezuela (1987–1992) provide evidence that the model captures well the sequential responses of Chilean and Venezuelan governments and dissidents.