The Underside of Political Settlements: Violence in Egypt and Kenya

Understanding political settlements is important for addressing and mitigating violence. This policy briefing is based on case studies from Egypt and Kenya which confirm that political settlements that only focus on formal actors and spaces at the national level are crucially flawed. Beyond this confirmation, the research also demonstrates that the viability of political settlements can be shaped by local-level dynamics and determined by citizens, who might re-kindle the violence if excluded from the settlement. To be stable, political arrangements and leaders need to enjoy legitimacy and credibility conferred by citizens. Proponents of political settlements ignore citizen-level dynamics at their peril.