Do Parties Matter for Ethnic Violence? Evidence From India

@article{Nellis2016DoPM,
  title={Do Parties Matter for Ethnic Violence? Evidence From India},
  author={Gareth Nellis and Michael Weaver and Steven C. Rosenzweig},
  journal={Quarterly Journal of Political Science},
  year={2016},
  volume={11},
  pages={249-277}
}
Ethnic group conflict is among the most serious threats facing young democracies. In this paper, we investigate whether the partisanship of incumbent politicians affects the incidence and severity of local ethnic violence. Using a novel application of the regression-discontinuity design, we show that as-if random victory by candidates representing India's Congress party in close state assembly elections between 1962 and 2000 reduced Hindu–Muslim rioting. The effects are large. Simulations… 
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