Anti-Press Violence in Subnational Undemocratic Regimes : Veracruz, Gujarat, and Beyond

The global trend of increasing violence against the press has spurred research interest into the questions of where, why, and how communicators are repressed. As a result, scholarship has demonstrating that hybrid regimes - which mix undemocratic and democratic elements - constitute a specifically dangerous and lethal context for these actors. Decentralized countries, in which some subnational political elites have retained authoritarian features, have been identified as the most perilous context for communicators. However, despite the burgeoning interest in illiberal practices and repression on the subnational level, it is still relatively unexplored how and why subnational political elites repress communicators within their multi-level setting. The author argues that communicators in subnational undemocratic regimes who can spread the scope of compromising information beyond subnational boundaries can cause uncertainties for subnational undemocratic regimes. The book explores how the political elites of these regimes repress these communicators in response. Acknowledgements Contents Abbreviations List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Murder in Mexico 2 Focus and Scope of the Book: Veracruz, Gujarat, and Beyond 2.1 The Essence of Subnational Undemocratic Regimes 2.2 The Geographical Scope of Subnational Undemocratic Regimes 2.3 The Scope of Boundary-Blurring Actors 3 The Extant Literature 4 Declining Freedom and Increasing Decentralization 5 Research Questions and Structure of the Book Bibliography Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework 1 Introduction 2 Domestic Sustenance 3 Multi-level Embeddedness 4 Subnational Power Uncertainty 5 Boundary Control and Subnational Power Uncertainty 6 Compromising Information and Subnational Power Uncertainty 7 Boundary-Blurring Actors and Repression 8 Conclusions Bibliography Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology 1 Introduction 2 Case Characteristics 3 Mexico and India 4 Subnational Cases 4.1 Veracruz 4.2 Gujarat 5 Data Collection and Analysis 5.1 Quantitative Data Analysis 5.2 Fieldwork 5.3 Access and Security Measures for Mexico 5.4 Access and Security Measures for India 5.5 Sampling, Protection of Sources and Respondents 5.6 Unstructured and Semi-structured Interviews 5.7 Process Tracing Bibliography Chapter 4: The Targeting of Journalists in Mexico 1 Introduction 2 Journalists and Subnational Power Uncertainty in Mexico 2.1 Boundary-Blurring Actors in Mexico 2.2 Press Freedom in Mexico 2.3 The Impact of Journalists on Subnational Political Elites in Mexico 3 The Targeting of Journalists in Mexican States 3.1 Attacks on Journalists in Mexico 3.2 Journalist Homicides in Mexico 3.3 Two Competing Narratives About Journalist Homicides 3.4 Journalists as the Victims of General Violence 3.5 Journalists as the Victims of Targeted Political Violence 3.6 Data to Test Propositions 3.7 Analysis 3.8 Reflections of the Robustness of the Test 4 Accounting for Observed Patterns 5 The Killing of Journalists in Subnational Undemocratic Regimes 6 Conclusions Bibliography Chapter 5: The Repression of Journalists in Veracruz 1 Introduction 1.1 Veracruz as a Graveyard for Journalists 1.2 Veracruz as a Subnational Undemocratic Regime 2 The Functioning of Veracruz as a Subnational Undemocratic Regime 3 The Media Landscape and Journalists in Veracruz 3.1 The Media Landscape in Veracruz 3.2 Critical Journalists in Veracruz 3.2.1 Expanding and Proving Compromising Information 3.2.2 Keeping a Small but Dense Network 4 The Repression of Journalists in Veracruz 4.1 The Diversity and Omnipresence of Repression 4.2 The Incrementality of Repression 4.3 The Identity of the Perpetrators 5 Conclusions Bibliography Chapter 6: Boundary-Blurring Actors in Gujarat 1 Introduction 2 Federalism, Variation in Subnational Democracy, and Subnational Power Uncertainty in India 2.1 Variation in Subnational Democracy in India 2.2 Subnational Power Uncertainty in India 2.3 Subnational Power Uncertainty: The Case of Gujarat 2.4 Modi’s Controversial Start as the Chief Minister of Gujarat 2.5 The Communal Riots of 2002 2.5.1 Lacking Government and Police Action and the Emergence of Boundary-Blurring Actors 2.5.2 Subnational Power Uncertainty During the Communal Riots 2.6 Boundary-Blurring Actions and Repression During the Early Aftermath of the Riots 2.7 Complicity in the Communal Riots 2.8 Turnover at the Centre 2.9 Pushing the Boundaries Further 2.10 The Expansion of Judicial Involvement 2.11 From Subnational Power Uncertainty to Power Consolidation 3 Conclusions Bibliography Chapter 7: Conclusions 1 Introduction 2 Theoretical Background of Findings 3 Continuity and Differences Across Cases 3.1 Uncertainty Versus Punishment 3.2 The Nature of Boundary-Blurring 3.3 How Were Boundary-Blurring Actors Repressed? 3.3.1 Opacity and Relations Between Non-state Actors and Subnational Political Elites 3.3.2 Incrementality 3.3.3 Levels of Violence 4 Implications for the Literature 4.1 Boundary-Blurring Actors and Subnational Power Uncertainty 4.2 Boundary-Blurring Actors and Repression 5 External Validity 6 Concluding Remarks Bibliography Appendix A: Binomial Test and Distribution of Time Between Killings Binomial Test Distribution of Time Between Killings Bibliography Appendix B: List of Interview Partners Index