ABSTRACT
At the height of civil war, cooperation and coexistence seem remote. With little respect for human life, warring armies are at the throat of each other – often for years – in order to capture the ultimate prize: the power over government and all its wealth, often including vast natural resources. As the war is raging, the role of the people is often only as victims. Yet bitter and protracted wars do end; a number of seemingly intractable civil wars have ended in recent years, sometimes with democratization. In Nicaragua in 1990, Mozambique in 1994, and in Liberia in 1997, elections were finally held which allowed ordinary citizens to decide who would hold power in the post-war society. The puzzle is then: Why do warring elites sometimes hand over power to settle the war to the people – through competitive elections whose outcome is unknown – instead of simply dividing the spoils of war between them to ensure that they will at least receive a piece of the pie?
