Violent political insurgencies display resilient structures that allow their growth and success. They must provide incentives to avoid internal rent-seeking among the members and, at the same time, discourage coalitions from undermining the direction and control of the insurgency. I study how...

A massive movement of Night Watchers or vigilantes' patrols emerged among the most impoverished indigenous communities in the Andes at the end of the twentieth century to combat terrorism. Northern peasant patrols based their organization on democratic mechanisms while the southern patrols built...

This paper analyzes the Peruvian-highland tradition of Takanakuy, a public brawling ritual occurring each Christmas to resolve conflicts between local community members. We argue that Takanakuy provides an effective way for locals to resolve disputes that Peru's formal judicial system is unable...

Why do some rebel groups seek legitimacy more than others? This article develops a theory to explain that the variation among insurgencies will depend on a trade-off insurgents confront between the interest to obtain legitimacy and the exposure to vulnerability. Inclusive legitimacy-seeking...