Lynching and Local Justice

What are the social and political consequences of poor state governance and low state legitimacy? Under what conditions does lynching lethal extralegal group violence to punish offenses to the community become an acceptable practice? We argue lynching emerges when neither the state nor its challengers have a monopoly over legitimate authority. When authority is contested or ambiguous mass punishment for transgressions can emerge that is public brutal and requires broad participation. Using new cross-national data we demonstrate lynching is a persistent problem in dozens of countries over the last four decades. Drawing on original survey and interview data from Haiti and South Africa we show how lynching emerges and becomes accepted. Specifically support for lynching most likely occurs in one of three conditions: when states fail to provide governance when non-state actors provide social services or when neighbors must rely on self-help.