BEYOND THE INCLUSION HYPE : Drivers of Civil Society Robustness Following Civil War Peace Agreements

Recent years gave rise to the concept of civil society inclusion, coined as the ‘inclusion hype,’ which holds increasingly strong resonance for scholars and policymakers alike due to its observed benefits for peacebuilding and socially accountable societies. Yet, despite the concept’s rise to normative prominence, no study investigated the outcome of civil society robustness improvement and the opportune moments of peace processes to govern such change. In particular, this study focuses on how intrastate conflict peace agreements can determine the dynamic shifts in robustness levels. This study aims to fill this gap by asking, “To what extent does civil society formal inclusion in peace agreements improve civil society robustness following the signing of peace agreements?” Due to the transformative potential of peace agreements, I argue that the inclusion of civil society provisions in the peace agreement will increase the likelihood of positive changes in civil society robustness post-agreement. The research question is answered in a quantitative study using logistic regression models comprising all UCDP PAD intrastate conflict peace agreements from 1990-2018. Quantitative evidence supports the proposed argument on most specifications. The analysis further indicates that the type of peace agreement is a critical factor in robustness improvement, as well as the number of civil society provisions in an agreement