Protection for Whom? Stabilization and Coercive Rule in Haiti

Abstract

This article examines police reform initiatives in Haiti since 1994 in the context of how armed groups, including police, have been used to maintain order and power in the 20^th century. Drawing on the model of the protection racket state, it argues that the political links and consequences of local rule by gangs perpetuate violence and conflict. International security and police missions target this ‘criminal’ violence but have not confronted the political and patronage networks of armed groups and the police force. International pressures for regional geopolitical stability create a ‘low-intensity democracy’,’ in which the national government’s prospects for implementing substantial institutional and socioeconomic reforms are constrained.