Daniel Lambach

Introduction: post-conflict spaces and approaches to statebuilding

Abstract Post-conflict spaces are no transitory phenomena during the transition from war to peace but have to be understood as fields of power where sovereignty is constantly contested and negotiated among global, elite and local actors. Understanding these spaces necessitates breaking out of the ‘single sovereign’ framework and problematizing the assumptions behind the ‘post-conflict’ label. We propose that in this way it becomes possible to discern some of the logics that govern how power and space shape each other in post-conflict settings.

Oligopolies of Violence in Post-Conflict Societies

In post-conflict societies, security is provided by a broad range of actors including the state as well as various non-state formations. The paper identifies three types of post-conflict societies and analyses dynamics of the security market in cases where international troops have intervened. A comparison of seven countries shows that intervention forces were able to establish themselves as market leaders when a disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) program was successfully conducted in the immediate post-conflict period. Such a program should be embedded in an inclusive peace agreement that is backed up by a credible and robust troop commitment from the international community.

How State‐Building Strategies Miss Local Realities

The focus of the development discourse has shifted over the last few years. Whereas notions of good governance enjoyed a clear ideological hegemony during the 1990s, their position is now being challenged by the rediscovery of ‘‘state-building’’ concepts. With regard to this development, this essay makes three central claims. First, the statebuilding concept emerged out of a growing unease with the ineffectiveness of aid in difficult environments, and out of the realization that political conditionalities had led to the marginalization of ‘‘poor performers.’’ Its subsequent rise is due to the ‘‘securitization’’ of development policy after 9/11. Since then, different political and academic actors have managed to find a common language to formulate policies for ‘‘difficult partnerships.’’

Temporal Analysis of Political Instability through Descriptive Subgroup Discovery

This paper analyzes the Political Instability Task Force (PITF) data set using a new methodology based on machine learning tools for subgroup discovery. While the PITF used static data, this study employs both static and dynamic descriptors covering the 5-year period before onset. The methodology provides several descriptive models of countries especially prone to political instability. For the most part, these models corroborate the PITFs findings and support earlier theoretical works. The paper also shows the value of subgroup discovery as a tool for developing a unified concept of political instability as well as for similar research designs.

Aktives Lernen in der Massenveranstaltung: Flipped-Classroom-Lehre als Alternative zur klassischen Vorlesung in der Politikwissenschaft

German Abstract: Auf welche Weise erzielen Studierende in politikwissenschaftlichen Grosveranstaltungen den besten Lernerfolg? Anstatt die Studierenden in einer klassischen Vorlesung zu passiven Wissenskonsumenten zu machen, ist der „Flipped Classroom“ oder „Inverted Classroom“ eine vielversprechende Alternative, die auf die Aktivierung der Studierenden setzt. Dabei wird die Vorlesungszeit zur Grosubung in kleinen Arbeitsgruppen, wahrend strukturierte Ubersichtsinformationen und Aufgaben zur Vermittlung und Erarbeitung von grundlegendem Wissen in Form von Lekture und Videos aus der gemeinsamen Vorlesungszeit in die Vorbereitungszeit der Studierenden verlagert werden. Dieser Artikel stellt das innovative Format des Flipped Classroom (FC) vor und bewertet es vorlaufig anhand von explorativer Evidenz einer Methodenvorlesung im ersten Fachsemester des BA Politikwissenschaft an der Universitat Duisburg-Essen.English Abstract: This article in German assesses the effectiveness of teaching in flipped classroom format in a large-group lecture of political science.The format changes the use of face-to-face time in the lecture hall to interactive group work with introductory material made available before the lecture in the form on online lectures. The empirical analysis of exam results demonstrates that Flipped Classroom increases the performance in higher-level learning outcomes if they are tested appropriately.

Conceptualising state collapse: an institutionalist approach

This paper proposes a theoretically grounded and methodologically rigorous conceptualisation of state collapse. It seeks to overcome several key deficits of research into fragile, failed and collapsed states, which is often criticised as normatively problematic and methodologically deficient. We argue that this is a worthwhile topic to study but that scholarly inquiry needs to become more systematic and focus on extreme cases of state collapse. Following a Weberian institutionalist tradition, we disaggregate statehood into three dimensions of state capacity: making and enforcing binding rules, monopolising the means of violence and collecting taxes. We then propose a set of indicators as well as a mode of aggregation based on necessary and sufficient conditions. Our framework identifies 17 cases of state collapse in the postcolonial era.

Zehn Erfahrungsberichte zur guten Lehre in den IB und ihre Diskussion durch DidaktikerInnen

Mit dem vorliegenden Beitrag wollen wir den Erfahrungsaustausch zwischen DidaktikerInnen und PolitikwissenschaftlerInnen aus dem Bereich der Internationalen Beziehungen (IB) befordern. Wahrend der Austausch uber Forschungsfragen in den IB stark institutionalisiert ist, bleibt ein vergleichbarer Austausch uber Lehrfragen vollig unterentwickelt. Deshalb »zimmern« sich akademische Lehrkrafte ihre eigene Lehre zumeist selbst zurecht, ohne dass dies mit anderen Lehrkraften diskutiert oder gar durch die Hochschuldidaktik informiert ware. Der Beitrag soll hier gegensteuern, indem er einerseits die Erfahrungen von akademischen Lehrenden dokumentiert und damit fur andere Lehrkrafte nachvollziehbar macht, und indem er andererseits den Blick von DidaktikerInnen auf diese Erfahrungen einfordert und damit einer professionellen Einordnung unterwirft. Wir skizzieren in unse- rem Beitrag zehn ausgewahlte Instrumente/Methoden der Didaktik, basierend auf individuellen Erfahrungen von IB-Lehrenden mit guter Lehre. Wir »spiegeln« diese Erfahrungen mit Einschatzungen erfahrener HochschuldidaktikerInnen.

From "Aid Conditionality" to "Engaging Differently": How Development Policy Tries to Cope with Fragile States

The article outlines recent changes in the development policy approach towards fragile states. Central to this new approach is a greater sensitivity towards the conditions in the partner country and a greater focus on change agents and turnaround situations. This approach has revitalised the concept of state-building. The article claims that the current understanding of the term is too narrow and offers an outline of the concept of ‘embedded state-building’ which recognises the societal context of political reform. This approach offers the greatest possibility of success in ‘difficult environments’. Der Artikel befasst sich mit Veränderungen in der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit mit fragilen Staaten. Charakteristisch für die neue Herangehensweise ist eine bessere Berücksichtigung lokaler Bedingungen sowie einer besseren Einbeziehung von Reformkräften. Diese Neuausrichtung hat

The Democratic Dividend of Nonviolent Resistance

Research suggests that nonviolent resistance (NVR) campaigns are more successful in deposing dictators than armed rebellions. However, ousting dictators is only the first step in the process of democratization. After deposing an autocratic regime, societies enter a transition phase where they must learn to consolidate the gains of democracy and bargain about the new rules of the democratic regime. But even if free, fair, and competitive elections are held, indicating a successful transition to democratic rule, uncertainty about its stability remains salient. In the period that follows, either democracy survives and proves to be resilient, or an autocratic backslide occurs. In this article, we analyze the effect of NVR campaigns on the survival of democratic regimes. Building on the literature on modes of transitions and nonviolent resistance, we argue that those democratic regimes that come into being as a result of a NVR campaign are less prone to democratic breakdown. The main mechanism which produces this effect is that the organizational culture of NVR campaigns spills over to the subsequent democratic regime fostering conditions favorable for democratic survival. We test the effect of NVR campaigns on democratic regime survival using survival analysis and propensity score matching. The results show that democratic regimes that experience NVR during the transition phase survive substantially longer than regimes without NVR.

Fragile Staaten in der Vergleichenden Politikwissenschaft

Fragile Staatlichkeit (bzw. seine verschiedenen Synonyme wie Staatszerfall, Staatskollaps oder versagende Staatlichkeit) ist in seiner gegenwartigen Form erst seit rund 20 Jahren ein Thema politikwissenschaftlicher Forschung. Aus Sicht der Vergleichenden Politikwissenschaft sind daran zwei Dinge bemerkenswert: Erstens handelt es sich dabei um ein Thema, das eigentlich Teil der klassischen Comparative Politics sein sollte, aber derzeit eher in den Internationalen Beziehungen, der Konflikt- und der Entwicklungsforschung angesiedelt ist. Die Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft schopft demgegenuber das Potenzial des Konzepts bislang kaum aus. Zweitens gab es inhaltlich ahnliche Konzepte schon fruher in der Komparatistik, z. B. die Arbeiten zu political development, deren Erkenntnisse von der aktuellen Forschung nur wenig bis gar nicht berucksichtigt werden. Positiv gewendet kann man daraus folgern, dass die Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft viel gewinnen konnte, wenn sie sich systematisch mit dem Thema fragiler Staatlichkeit beschaftigen und die Forschung an ihre eigenen Traditionen zuruckbinden wurde. Dies wurde Erkenntnisgewinne fur andere Forschungsstrange versprechen, aber auch der Forschung zu fragiler Staatlichkeit gut tun.