What is the relationship between rebel governance and rebel military strength? Most existing research assumes that rebel governance enhances the military strength of the rebel group. I test this assumption with an original dataset of rebel governance services. The quantitative evidence presents a more complicated picture that belies a straightforward link between the two: governance appears to have either no relationship with rebel strength and sometimes even a negative and statistically significant relationship with rebel military capacity. To explain this surprising result, I generate a set of empirically grounded mechanisms using case vignettes that incorporate primary and secondary data. As a whole, the paper calls for greater theorizing and testing of the consequences of rebel governance, as well as the strategic motivations for its implementation.
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