1932
0
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Annual Review of Political Science
  4. Volume 24, 2021
  5. Article

Annual Review of Political Science

Volume 24, 2021

Networks of Conflict and Cooperation

Abstract

Conflict and cooperation do not result from isolated individual actions. In settings such as insurgency, interstate conflict, protest mobilization, and informal governance, actors are highly interdependent. The study of networks aims to identify what the relevant interdependencies are and, crucially, how they shape conflict and cooperation outcomes. Although this is a relatively new research area, its early results convincingly establish that networks matter. Social networks provide information, transmit peer pressure, and structure interactions in ways that help groups overcome social dilemmas. With much research documenting the importance of particular outcomes in particular areas, the next major step will be putting the pieces together. Which connections between actors matter in which circumstances and how? The groundwork has been well laid for this large future research endeavor.

Keyword(s): civil conflict, collective action, informal governance, interstate conflict, public goods, social networks
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-102523
2021-05-11
2024-04-25
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/polisci/24/1/annurev-polisci-041719-102523.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-102523&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Apicella CL, Marlowe FW, Fowler JH, Christakis NA 2012. Social networks and cooperation in hunter-gatherers. Nature 481:497–501
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Aral S, Van Alstyne M 2011. The diversity-bandwidth trade-off. Am. J. Sociol. 117:90–171
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Asal V, Rethemeyer RK. 2008. The nature of the beast: organizational structures and the lethality of terrorist attacks. J. Politics 70:437–49
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Atwell P, Nathan NL. 2021. Channels for influence or maps of behavior? a field experiment on social networks and cooperation. Am. J. Political Sci. In press
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Bago B, Rand DG, Pennycook G 2020. Fake news, fast and slow: Deliberation reduces belief in false (but not true) news headlines. J. Exp. Psychol. Gen. 149:1608–13
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Baldassarri D. 2015. Cooperative networks: altruism, group solidarity, reciprocity, and sanctioning in Ugandan producer organizations. Am. J. Sociol. 121:355–95
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Banerjee A, Chandrasekhar AG, Duflo E, Jackson MO 2013. The diffusion of microfinance. Science 341:363–64
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Barberá P, Wang N, Bonneau R, Jost JT, Nagler J et al. 2015. The critical periphery in the growth of social protests. PLOS ONE 10:e0143611
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Berardo R, Scholz JT. 2010. Self-organizing policy networks: risk, partner selection, and cooperation in estuaries. Am. J. Political Sci. 54:632–49
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Bisbee J, Larson JM. 2017. Testing social science network theories with online network data: an evaluation of external validity. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 111:502
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Bramoullé Y, Kranton R. 2007. Public goods in networks. J. Econ. Theory 135:478–94
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Breza E, Chandrasekhar AG, McCormick TH, Pan M 2020. Using aggregated relational data to feasibly identify network structure without network data. Am. Econ. Rev. 110:2454–84
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Budak C, Agrawal D, El Abbadi A 2011. Limiting the spread of misinformation in social networks. Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on the World Wide Web665–74 New York: Assoc. Comput. Machin.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Centola D, Macy M. 2007. Complex contagions and the weakness of long ties. Am. J. Sociol. 113:702–34
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Chwe MSY. 2000. Communication and coordination in social networks. Rev. Econ. Stud. 67:1–16
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Conley TG, Udry CR. 2010. Learning about a new technology: pineapple in Ghana. Am. Econ. Rev. 100:35–69
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Cruz C, Labonne J, Querubin P 2017. Politician family networks and electoral outcomes: evidence from the Philippines. Am. Econ. Rev. 107:3006–37
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Cunningham KG. 2013. Actor fragmentation and civil war bargaining: how internal divisions generate civil conflict. Am. J. Political Sci. 57:659–72
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Dixit A. 2003. Trade expansion and contract enforcement. J. Political Econ. 111:1293–317
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Dodds PS, Watts DJ, Sabel CF 2003. Information exchange and the robustness of organizational networks. PNAS 100:12516–21
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Dorff C, Gallop M, Minhas S 2020. Networks of violence: predicting conflict in Nigeria. J. Politics 82:476–93
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Dorussen H, Ward H. 2008. Intergovernmental organizations and the Kantian peace: a network perspective. J. Confl. Resolut. 52:189–212
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Duflo E, Saez E. 2003. The role of information and social interactions in retirement plan decisions: evidence from a randomized experiment. Q. J. Econ. 118:815–42
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Enders W, Jindapon P. 2010. Network externalities and the structure of terror networks. J. Confl. Resolut. 54:262–80
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Enders W, Su X. 2007. Rational terrorists and optimal network structure. J. Confl. Resolut. 51:33–57
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Eubank N, Kronick D. 2019. Friends don't let friends free ride Work. Pap., Soc. Sci. Res. Inst., Duke Univ., Durham, NC. http://www.nickeubank.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/BarrioNetworks_v2.pdf
  27. Fearon JD, Laitin DD. 1996. Explaining interethnic cooperation. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 90:715–35
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Ferrali R. 2020. Partners in crime? Corruption as a criminal network. Games Econ. Behav. 124:319–53
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Ferrali R, Grossman G, Platas MR, Rodden J 2020. It takes a village: peer effects and externalities in technology adoption. Am. J. Political Sci. 64:536–53
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Forney JF. 2015. Who can we trust with a gun? Information networks and adverse selection in militia recruitment. J. Confl. Resolut. 59:824–49
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Frey V, Buskens V, Corten R 2019. Investments in and returns on network embeddedness: an experiment with trust games. Soc. Netw. 56:81–92
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Gerber AS, Green DP, Larimer CW 2008. Social pressure and voter turnout: evidence from a large-scale field experiment. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 102:33–48
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Gohdes AR. 2015. Pulling the plug: network disruptions and violence in civil conflict. J. Peace Res. 52:352–67
     [Google Scholar]
  34. González-Bailón S, Borge-Holthoefer J, Rivero A, Moreno Y 2011. The dynamics of protest recruitment through an online network. Sci. Rep. 1:197
     [Google Scholar]
  35. González-Bailón S, Wang N. 2016. Networked discontent: the anatomy of protest campaigns in social media. Soc. Netw. 44:95–104
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Gould RV. 1991. Multiple networks and mobilization in the Paris commune, 1871. Am. Sociol. Rev. 56:716–29
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Gould RV. 1993. Collective action and network structure. Am. Sociol. Rev. 58:182–96
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Goyal S, Vigier A. 2014. Attack, defence, and contagion in networks. Rev. Econ. Stud. 81:1518–42
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Granovetter MS. 1973. The strength of weak ties. Am. J. Sociol. 76:1360–80
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Greif A. 1993. Contract enforceability and economic institutions in early trade: the Maghribi traders’ coalition. Am. Econ. Rev. 83:525–48
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Guess A, Nagler J, Tucker J 2019. Less than you think: prevalence and predictors of fake news dissemination on Facebook. Sci. Adv. 5:eaau4586
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Guilbeault D, Becker J, Centola D 2018. Complex contagions: a decade in review. Complex Spreading Phenomena in Social Systems S Lehmann, A Yong-Yeol 3–25 Berlin: Springer
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Habyarimana J, Humphreys M, Posner DN, Weinstein JM 2009. Coethnicity: Diversity and the Dilemmas of Collective Action New York: Russell: Sage Found.
  44. Hafner-Burton EM, Montgomery AH. 2006. Power positions: international organizations, social networks, and conflict. J. Confl. Resolut. 50:3–27
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Harrigan NM, Labianca GJ, Agneessens F 2020. Negative ties and signed graphs research: stimulating research on dissociative forces in social networks. Soc. Netw. 60:1–10
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Hiller T. 2017. Friends and enemies: a model of signed network formation. Theor. Econ. 12:1057–87
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Jackson MO. 2010. Social and Economic Networks Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press
  48. Jackson MO, Wolinsky A. 1996. A strategic model of social and economic networks. J. Econ. Theory 71:44–74
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Kandori M. 1992. Social norms and community enforcement. Rev. Econ. Stud. 59:63–80
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Kasara K. 2013. Separate and suspicious: local social and political context and ethnic tolerance in Kenya. J. Politics 75:921–36
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Kenney M, Coulthart S, Wright D 2017. Structure and performance in a violent extremist network: the small-world solution. J. Confl. Resolut. 61:2208–34
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Kinne BJ. 2012. Multilateral trade and militarized conflict: centrality, openness, and asymmetry in the global trade network. J. Politics 74:308–22
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Kinne BJ. 2013. Network dynamics and the evolution of international cooperation. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 107:766–85
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Kinne BJ. 2018. Defense cooperation agreements and the emergence of a global security network. Int. Organ. 72:799–837
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Larson JM. 2017a. Networks and interethnic cooperation. J. Politics 79:546–59
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Larson JM. 2017b. The weakness of weak ties for novel information diffusion. Appl. Netw. Sci. 2:14
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Larson JM. 2017c. Why the west became wild: informal governance with incomplete networks. World Politics 69:713–49
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Larson JM, Lewis JI. 2017. Ethnic networks. Am. J. Political Sci. 61:350–64
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Larson JM, Lewis JI. 2018. Rumors, kinship networks, and rebel group formation. Int. Organ. 72:871–903
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Larson JM, Lewis JI. 2020. Measuring networks in the field. Political Sci. Res. Methods 8:123–35
     [Google Scholar]
  61. Larson JM, Lewis JI, Rodríguez P 2020. From chatter to action: how social networks inform and motivate in rural Uganda Work. Pap., Dep. Political Sci., Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN. https://5c8155ae-6e2c-4584-99f5-967bdefae725.filesusr.com/ugd/c4fec0_1f0c38561f664231b00081c451d215a3.pdf
  62. Larson JM, Nagler J, Ronen J, Tucker JA 2019. Social networks and protest participation: evidence from 130 million Twitter users. Am. J. Political Sci. 63:690–705
     [Google Scholar]
  63. Lazer DM, Baum MA, Benkler Y, Berinsky AJ, Greenhill KM et al. 2018. The science of fake news. Science 359:1094–96
     [Google Scholar]
  64. Lewis JI. 2020. How Insurgency Begins: Rebel Group Formation in Uganda and Beyond Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press
  65. Lippert S, Spagnolo G. 2011. Networks of relations and word-of-mouth communication. Games Econ. Behav. 72:202–17
     [Google Scholar]
  66. Lupu Y, Traag VA. 2013. Trading communities, the networked structure of international relations, and the Kantian peace. J. Confl. Resolut. 57:1011–42
     [Google Scholar]
  67. Lyall J. 2010. Are coethnics more effective counterinsurgents? Evidence from the second Chechen war. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 104:1–20
     [Google Scholar]
  68. Maoz Z, Terris LG, Kuperman RD, Talmud I 2007. What is the enemy of my enemy? Causes and consequences of imbalanced international relations, 1816–2001. J. Politics 69:100–15
     [Google Scholar]
  69. Marwell G, Oliver PE, Prahl R 1988. Social networks and collective action: a theory of the critical mass. Am. J. Sociol. 94:502–34
     [Google Scholar]
  70. McAdam D. 1986. Recruitment to high-risk activism: the case of Freedom Summer. Am. J. Sociol. 92:64–90
     [Google Scholar]
  71. McAdam MDD. 2003. Social Movements and Networks: Relational Approaches to Collective Action Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press
  72. McClendon GH. 2014. Social esteem and participation in contentious politics: a field experiment at an LGBT pride rally. Am. J. Political Sci. 58:279–90
     [Google Scholar]
  73. McDoom OS. 2014. Antisocial capital: a profile of Rwandan genocide perpetrators’ social networks. J. Confl. Resolut. 58:865–93
     [Google Scholar]
  74. Metternich NW, Dorff C, Gallop M, Weschle S, Ward MD 2013. Antigovernment networks in civil conflicts: how network structures affect conflictual behavior. Am. J. Political Sci. 57:892–911
     [Google Scholar]
  75. Metternich NW, Minhas S, Ward MD 2017. Firewall? Or wall on fire? A unified framework of conflict contagion and the role of ethnic exclusion. J. Confl. Resolut. 61:1151–73
     [Google Scholar]
  76. Miguel E, Gugerty MK. 2005. Ethnic diversity, social sanctions, and public goods in Kenya. J. Public Econ. 89:2325–68
     [Google Scholar]
  77. Minozzi W, Song H, Lazer DM, Neblo MA, Ognyanova K 2020. The incidental pundit: Who talks politics with whom, and why. ? Am. J. Political Sci. 64:135–51
     [Google Scholar]
  78. Mobius M, Phan T, Szeidl A 2015. Treasure hunt: social learning in the field NBER Work. Pap. 21014
  79. Mobius M, Rosenblat T. 2014. Social learning in economics. Annu. Rev. Econ. 6:827–47
     [Google Scholar]
  80. Montgomery JM, Nyhan B. 2017. The effects of congressional staff networks in the US House of Representatives. J. Politics 79:745–61
     [Google Scholar]
  81. Naidu S, Robinson JA, Young LE 2017. Social origins of dictatorships: elite networks and political transitions in Haiti CDEP-CGEG Work. Pap. 31, Cent. Dev. Econ. Policy, Columbia Univ., New York
  82. Nava F, Piccione M. 2014. Efficiency in repeated games with local interaction and uncertain local monitoring. Theor. Econ. 9:279–312
     [Google Scholar]
  83. Opp KD, Gern C. 1993. Dissident groups, personal networks, and spontaneous cooperation: the East German revolution of 1989. Am. Sociol. Rev. 58:659–80
     [Google Scholar]
  84. Parkinson SE. 2013. Organizing rebellion: rethinking high-risk mobilization and social networks in war. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 107:418–32
     [Google Scholar]
  85. Pennycook G, McPhetres J, Zhang Y, Lu JG, Rand DG 2020. Fighting covid-19 misinformation on social media: experimental evidence for a scalable accuracy-nudge intervention. Psychol. Sci. 31:770–80
     [Google Scholar]
  86. Phillips BJ. 2014. Terrorist group cooperation and longevity. Int. Stud. Q. 58:336–47
     [Google Scholar]
  87. Raub W, Buskens V, Frey V 2013. The rationality of social structure: cooperation in social dilemmas through investments in and returns on social capital. Soc. Netw. 35:720–32
     [Google Scholar]
  88. Robinson AL. 2016. Nationalism and ethnic-based trust: evidence from an African border region. Comp. Political Stud. 49:1819–54
     [Google Scholar]
  89. Rubin MA. 2020. Rebel territorial control and civilian collective action in civil war: evidence from the communist insurgency in the Philippines. J. Confl. Resolut. 64:459–89
     [Google Scholar]
  90. Siegel DA. 2009. Social networks and collective action. Am. J. Political Sci. 53:122–38
     [Google Scholar]
  91. Siegel DA. 2011. When does repression work? Collective action in social networks. J. Politics 73:993–1010
     [Google Scholar]
  92. Steinert-Threlkeld ZC. 2017. Spontaneous collective action: peripheral mobilization during the Arab Spring. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 111:379–403
     [Google Scholar]
  93. Steinert-Threlkeld ZC, Mocanu D, Vespignani A, Fowler J 2015. Online social networks and offline protest. EPJ Data Sci 4:19
     [Google Scholar]
  94. Tezcur GM. 2015. Ordinary people, extraordinary risks: participation in an ethnic rebellion. Am. Political Sci. Rev. 110:247–64
     [Google Scholar]
  95. Tong A, Du DZ, Wu W 2018. On misinformation containment in online social networks. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 31 S Bengio, H Wallach, H Larochelle, K Grauman, N Cesa-Bianchi, et al. https://papers.nips.cc/paper/7317-on-misinformation-containment-in-online-social-networks
    [Google Scholar]
  96. Tucker JA, Guess A, Barberá P, Vaccari C, Siegel A et al. 2018. Social media, political polarization, and political disinformation: a review of the scientific literature Rep. William and Flora Hewlett Found., Mar. 19. https://www.hewlett.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Social-Media-Political-Polarization-and-Political-Disinformation-Literature-Review.pdf
  97. Victor JN, Montgomery AH, Lubell M 2017. The Oxford Handbook of Political Networks Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press
  98. Watts DJ. 2002. A simple model of global cascades on random networks. PNAS 99:5766–71
     [Google Scholar]
  99. Wolitzky A. 2013. Cooperation with network monitoring. Rev. Econ. Stud. 80:395–427
     [Google Scholar]
  100. Zeitzoff T. 2017. How social media is changing conflict. J. Confl. Resolut. 61:1970–91
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-102523
Loading
Networks of Conflict and Cooperation
Annual Review of Political Science 24, 89 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-102523
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-102523
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-102523
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error