Publication

This paper explores which aspects of a weak state affect political violence in sub-Saharan Africa. Using Afrobarometer survey data, it identifies and measures citizens' perceptions of the dimensions of state weakness and explores how these popular attitudes shape perceptions of the use of violence for political purposes. The authors outline several factors that are strongly associated with both popular acceptability of political violence and higher levels of participation in demonstrations. However, they do not find any significant effect of weak state presence and poor provision of public goods on an individual's proclivity to engage in political violence.