Comparative Politics in Borderlands: Actors, Identities, and Strategies

Abstract

Comparativists are increasingly researching national border regions. Yet the distinct way in which proximity to borders independently shapes politics is rarely theorized explicitly. Drawing on the emerging subdiscipline of border studies, we identify three types of border effects: Borders involve specific actors, shape local identities, and provide distinct strategies, each of which directly affects key areas of comparative politics. An in-depth review of work on political violence and state formation shows that specifying these effects ( a) demands that comparativists consider the ways in which borderlands differ from other regions and be careful in attributing processes found there to nations as a whole, ( b) improves theories by elucidating scope conditions, and ( c) scrutinizes the validity of our research designs and measurement strategies. We end with a call to move from a comparative politics in border regions to a comparative politics of border regions that contextualizes how borders alter political processes. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 25 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Legal identity at the margins: the impact of violent conflict on birth registration in India

“…Sur 2021 on the Northeast of India). As a result, the governance of peripheries tends to be more repressive than in other parts of the country as state actors – worried about their tenuous hold on these areas – use force to ward off real and perceived threats (Braun and Kienitz 2022 , 313). The state’s ‘weak’ capacity in these areas is at least in part an outcome of its limited interest in fully incorporating these areas in the first place, rather than an inability to do so.…”

The Complex Imprint of Foreign Rule: Tracking Differential Legacies along the Administrative Hierarchy

“…On the broader relevance of historical borders and border shifts for political, economic, and institutional outcomes, see alsoBraun and Kienitz (2022).30 Also,Treisman (2000) considers colonialism to be an important factor that impacts contemporary corruption levels.…”