Violence and Peace Sustainability in postconflict societies: Comparative case study of

Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo

(DRC)
Under what conditions is violence likely to re-emerge in post conflict societies?
In order for post-conflict societies to have long term peace sustainability
and prevent the re-emergence of violence that the role of the state in capacity
building in the promotion of power-sharing and social trust/inclusion is vital.

Literature Review

Power sharing:

- Dividing power among actors allows for cooperation centered on collective

not individual. Main objective: proportional power

interests

- Consociationalism Model: a grand governing coalition, proportional representation,

mutual right to veto and ethnic autonomy (Lijphart. 1969)
- Some scholars argue that consociationalism cannot produce long-term stability.
contend that power-sharing incentivizes ethnic outbidding

They

- The political arena, although important, is not the only sphere in which competing
groups may agree to share power; military, economic, social

Social trust/inclusion

Brehm & Rahn (1997) refers to community building as social capital which they define
as a tight reciprocal relationship between civic engagement and interpersonal trust. The
more that citizens participate in their communities, the more that they learn to trust others;
the greater trust that citizens hold for others, the more likely they are to participate.

Method

Case study: Comparative analysis of Rwanda and DRC

identify certain patterns of post-conflict power-sharing and social trust by

analyzing the agreements drafted following the end of the conflict and how
they were implemented. Examine if these agreements provide complex
systems of incentives to encourage moderation, ethnic, racial, and religious
integration, and meaningful public participation
If power sharing and social trust are high violence is less likely to occur
If power sharing and social trust are low violence is more likely to occur

Dependent variable: violence

Independent variables: power sharing and social trust/inclusion

Summary of evidence

Effective governance that promotes power sharing and social trust/inclusion is more
likely to result in long-term peace stability.

In the case of Rwanda, the initial peace agreement-Arusha; indicated the promotion
of power sharing however peace accord failed because the promotion of powersharing and social trust was low. This lead to the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. Following
the genocide, government focused on security and stability and power sharing and
social trust/inclusion was a top priority. The end result was a stable transition political
and peace stability which lead to considerable growth and development.

In the DRC, the peace agreement signed indicated that power sharing was the main
objective however, strong tensions still existed among all groups and most importantly
lacked incentives for cooperation. Social trust/inclusion were low which sparked the
re-emergence of violence.

Conclusion

The stability of power sharing and social trust depends heavily on all actors
willingness to cooperate. Good governance reinforces ideals of power sharing
and social trust thus mitigating the use of violence to solve grievances

Study contributes to the ongoing debate of promotion power sharing and

social trust in rebuilding post-conflict societies and whether it ensures long
term peace.