Power Sharing Measures: Can Tools Used to Secure Negative Peace Help to Foster Positive Peace?
Dr. Caroline Hartzell
Wednesday, October 29, 2025 | 03:30 pm
335 Ortega Hall
About:
What Settlements that call for warring parties to share power in the aftermath of a civil war have become, until recently, the most common means of ending a civil war. Skepticism regarding these agreements ranges from questions about their ability to help stop the killing – i.e., to secure a negative peace – to their effects on the quality of the peace in the aftermath of a civil war. This lecture will engage with power-sharing settlements’ effects on both negative and positive peace by focusing on the duration of the peace, post-conflict democracy, and women’s political empowerment following civil wars. Claims regarding the utility of power-sharing settlements as a means of ending civil wars are based on analyses of cross-national observational data, experimental data, and fieldwork in Colombia, Nepal, and the Philippines.
Dr. Hartzell's research focuses on cross-national civil war settlements and the effects institutions, both domestic and international, have on social conflict. She has published numerous journal articles on the effects that power-sharing settlements of civil wars have on the duration and quality of the peace, as well as co-authored and co-edited books on those topics. She is currently engaged in the use of survey research and experiments that explore the role that citizens play in peace processes. Professor Hartzell is the founder, along with Felix Haass and Martin Ottmann, of the network Citizens in Peace Processes.
Notes:
This event is free and open to the public.
