Title: Votes and violence : electoral competition and ethnic riots in India /
Authors: Wilkinson, Steven, 1965-
Publisher: Cambridge University Press,
Year: 2004
Subjects: Elections India; Political violence India.; Ethnic conflict India.
Abstract: "Why does ethnic violence break out in some places and not others? More important, why do some governments try to prevent antiminority riots while others do nothing, or even actively encourage attacks? This book answers these questions through a detailed study of Hindu-Muslim riots in India, as well as case studies of Ireland, Malaysia, and Romania. It shows how electoral incentives at two levels interact to explain both where violence breaks out and, more importantly, why some states decide to prevent mass violence and others do not.
Contents: The electoral incentives for ethnic violence -- Explaining town-level variation in Hindu-Muslim violence: the Importance of local electoral Incentives -- State capacity explanations for Hindu-Muslim violence -- The consociational explanation for Hindu-Muslim violence -- The electoral incentives for Hindu-Muslim violence -- Party competition and Hindu-Muslim violence -- The electoral incentives for ethnic violence in comparartive perspective -- Democracy and ethnic violence.