The impact of political alliances on voter prejudice in post conflict countries

Abstract

Scholars of conflict resolution have studied ways to reduce prejudice in society for years, believing that prejudice leads to or increases the likelihood of conflict. The primary focus has been on schools, universities and communities. More limited research has been conducted on the contribution of political party alliances on reducing prejudice in post-conflict societies, divided along ethnic, linguistic, racial, religious or tribal lines. While alliances are often perceived as a way to overcome divisions between political forces and coalesce around common goals and interests, it is not clear if citizens living in deeply divided societies experience a change in their level of prejudice when the party they support enters into an alliance with a party that represents another group with which they may have been previously in conflict. Furthermore, it is unclear how lasting these changes in perceptions are, especially if political alliances change.

The conflict resolution literature offers techniques and approaches to overcome prejudice based on the study of interpersonal, group and community conflict. Ideas on how to overcome inter-state conflicts are also explored and discussed by scholars at length.