Description:

Massimiliano Onorato (University of Bologna): “Roads to Fascism? State Capacity and the Spreadof Political Violence” 

Abstract: We investigate the role of state capacity and political violence in fa- voring regime changes. Specifically, we examine the role of road networks in spreading fascist violence in the early 1920s in Italy. Using novel and detailed data on fascist violence, along with digitized maps of the Italian road network, we investigate the impact of road accessibility on the location and intensity of political violence. We address endogeneity issues by means of an instrumental variable approach based on the least-cost path network connecting local administrative centers. We find that proximity to the road network increased a municipality’s exposure to violence and that both the extensive margin and the intensive margin were affected. We discuss the impact of fascist violence on the stability of local political institutions and the link with the establishment of new branches of the Fascist Party. Our conclusions suggest that incumbents may have strategic incentives to limit the development of infrastructures when they fear for their hold on political power.