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

本文揭示了不同政治制度对种族分裂社会中个人信任与合作倾向的影响。尽管很多学者都致力于了解导致种族分裂社会中暴力的制度条件，但对于一旦暴力成为定局，制度能做些什么来改善种族关系却知之甚少。波斯尼亚-黑塞哥维那是评价种族冲突与合作理论的理想案例，本项目采用了一种新的经验分析方法来实现这一目的。本文的研究提供了一个跨越冲突前和冲突后的分界线，将种族关系的一般理论联系起来的机会。本研究的实证结果将有助于解决许多悬而未决的问题，包括国际维和干预的有效性，以及重组多民族国家的途径，以防止世界许多地区暴力种族冲突的发生和再次发生。因此，本研究的理论、方法-经验和政策基础可以应用于波斯尼亚案例之外的冲突后环境，并标志着一个真正具有全球视角的研究项目的开始。在冲突后的任何环境中，以前都没有尝试过使用调查和实验相结合的方法，因此，研究设计和从中产生的经验数据将作为目前未知研究领域的第一步。

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.