Publication

This paper attempts to answer the following question: If ethnic conflicts often result from a struggle over access to the state and its material wealth, do formalized power sharing arrangements decrease the risk of conflict in resource-rich countries? After performing a data-intensive analysis of West African nations, the paper concludes 1) that ethnic power sharing significantly decreases the risk of internal conflict, and 2) it mediates the conflict-fueling effect of resource production. However, for ethnically-based power sharing schemes to be effective, the paper concludes, they need to include all relevant ethnic groups within a country.