Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Institutions and Inter-ethnic Relations in Bosnia-Herzegovina

本论文揭示了不同的政治制度对个人层面的信任与合作的倾向，在种族分裂的社会的影响。虽然学术界一直致力于了解导致种族分裂社会中暴力的制度条件，但很少有人知道一旦暴力成为定局，制度可以做些什么来改善种族关系。波斯尼亚-黑塞哥维那代表了一个理想的情况下，为评估理论的民族冲突与合作，本项目采用了一种新的实证分析方法，以实现这一目的。本论文的研究提供了一个机会，跨越分界线的前和冲突后的民族关系的一般理论。从这项研究的实证结果将有助于解决许多悬而未决的问题，国际维和干预的有效性和途径，重组多民族国家，以防止暴力种族冲突的发生和再次发生在世界许多地区。因此，本研究的理论，方法论，实证和政策基础可以应用到冲突后的环境超越波斯尼亚的情况下，标志着一个研究计划，是真正的全球视角的开始。在任何冲突后环境中，以前都没有尝试过使用调查和实验相结合的方法，因此，研究设计和由此产生的经验数据将成为目前未知的研究领域的第一步。

This dissertation uncovers the effects of differing political institutions on individual-level propensities for trust and cooperation in ethnically-divided societies. Whereas much scholarly attention has been devoted to understanding the institutional conditions that lead to violence in ethnically-divided societies, very little is known about what institutions can do to improve ethnic-relations once violence is a foregone conclusion. Bosnia-Herzegovina represents an ideal case for evaluating theories of ethnic conflict and cooperation and this project employs a novel method of empirical analysis for achieving this purpose.This dissertation research provides an opportunity to link general theories of ethnic relations across the dividing line of pre- and post-conflict. Empirical findings from this study will help resolve many unanswered questions on the effectiveness of international peacekeeping interventions and avenues for restructuring multi-ethnic states to prevent the occurrence and reoccurrence of violent ethnic conflict in many parts of the world. As such, the theoretical, methodological-empirical, and policy bases of this research can be applied to post-conflict environments beyond the Bosnian case and mark the beginnings of a research program that is truly global in perspective. The use of combined survey and experimental methods has not been attempted before in any post-conflict environment, and therefore, the research design and the empirical data generated from it will serve as first steps in what is currently an uncharted area of research.