No Neutral Ground : NGOs and Democracy Promotion after Civil War

Can NGOs promote democracy after civil war? This book explains how war-induced polarization challenges NGO impartiality, resulting in citizen disengagement. Utilizing data from years of fieldwork in Côte d'Ivoire, it reassesses post-conflict democratization, offering insights into how wartime legacies can be overcome to achieve democracy.

No Neutral Ground examines the complexities of promoting democracy after civil wars, focusing on the role of domestic non-governmental organizations (NGOs). While peace and democracy promoting NGOs are expected to be impartial in their activities, in the aftermath of violence, citizens may distrust these organizations and perceive them as exclusionary, detracting from their effectiveness. The book explores how post-war polarization shapes the interactions among citizens, NGO leaders, and governments, influencing citizen attitudes toward democracy promotion. Each actor is shaped by the destabilizing effects of war, resulting in unintended consequences. Drawing on extensive original data collected through years of fieldwork in Côte d'Ivoire, encompassing interviews, participant observation, focus groups, surveys, experiments, and lab-in-the-field games, No Neutral Ground reassesses the theory and practice of post-conflict democratization and offers insights into whether and how wartime legacies might be overcome to achieve democracy.