ABSTRACT
The conclusion chapter provides an overview of the book’s argument and specific findings from each chapter. Additionally, this chapter elaborates on our argument’s contributions and highlights avenues for future research suggested by our findings. We also acknowledge the limitations of our study. This book argued that electoral inclusion has provided a foundation for durable political settlements in a surprising number of cases. Participation in elections has incremental effects on post-rebel parties: parties are faced with choices, challenges, opportunities, and decisions with each election that affect the party itself as well as the party system and democracy. However, despite the fact that liberal peacebuilding rests on the creation of formally democratic institutions and processes, we argue that even sustained commitment to electoral politics is unlikely to transform post-war countries into democracies. Rather, participation in electoral politics over time gives parties a stake in electoral politics, which can then be laid on top or alongside of other, informal patterns of political and economic power.
