Following regime change, how does wartime victimization shape political attitudes and participation in the long run? I argue that it increases post-war political vigilance: greater sensitivity to illiberal politics and poor governance, but with dampened effects on participation under authoritarianism due to greater fear of harm. I examine Protected Villages (PVs) in the Zimbabwe Liberation War (1972–1979). PVs, a Rhodesian counterinsurgency strategy, was a large-scale and violent resettlement program that intensified politics’ role in civilian lives. I map PV-affected areas within pre-war and current-day administrative divisions, and estimate a difference-in-discontinuities regression to identify PVs’ long-run effects. PV-affected areas report greater sensitivity to the country’s illiberal politics and are more critical of poor government performance today. Contrary to existing literature however, I find no evidence of increased political participation and pro-social behavior in the long run, nor hardened support for the ruling party—whom these areas had once supported during war.

中文翻译：

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从政治化到警惕：战时受害的战后遗产


政权更迭后，战时受害如何影响长期的政治态度和参与？我认为它提高了战后的政治警惕性：对非自由政治和不良治理更加敏感，但由于更担心受到伤害，对威权主义下的参与产生了减弱的影响。我研究了津巴布韦解放战争（1972-1979）中的受保护村庄（PV）。光伏是罗德西亚的一项反叛乱战略，是一项大规模的暴力重新安置计划，强化了政治在平民生活中的作用。我绘制了战前和当前行政区划内受光伏影响的区域的地图，并估计了不连续性回归差异，以确定光伏的长期影响。受光伏影响的地区对该国的不自由政治更加敏感，并对当今政府的糟糕表现更加批评。然而，与现有文献相反，我没有发现从长远来看政治参与和亲社会行为有所增加的证据，也没有发现对执政党的坚定支持——这些地区曾经在战争期间支持过执政党。