Thesis
Land reform and political change in the postcolonial world : patterns, causes and consequences
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2026
- Thesis identifier
- T18011
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 201992898
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- Land reform has been central yet a contested feature of development and political change in the postcolonial world. While a rich body of literature documents land reform through individual case studies, systematic comparative evidence on its patterns, causes and political consequences has remained limited. This thesis addresses that gap by examining land reform across 101 postcolonial developing countries between 1945 and 2020, drawing on an original cross-national dataset: the Land Reform Development Dataset (LRDD). This thesis makes three interrelated contributions. Firstly, it introduces the LRDD, the first large-N dataset of land reform episodes, identifying 123 reforms across Asia, Africa and Latin America and distinguishes between market-oriented and state-oriented institutional models. Using this dataset, the thesis maps the temporal and regional patterns of land reform, identifying two major waves: the Decolonisation Wave in the 1960s—1970s and the PostCold War Wave of the 1990s. Secondly, it analyses the domestic and international determinants of land reform. The findings show that reform adoption and design were shaped not only by structural conditions but also by political ideology and global alignments. Market-oriented reforms were strongly associated with democracy and donor conditionality, while state-oriented reforms were more closely related to left-leaning executives and alternative geopolitical alignment. Thirdly, the thesis examines the political consequences of land reform for regime trajectories. Disaggregating reform by institutional type, the analysis shows that market-oriented reforms tend to cluster around democratic transitions and consolidation, particularly during the Third Wave of Democratisation, whereas state-oriented reforms are concentrated in authoritarian contexts and are associated with regime persistence. At the same time, the results indicate that the political effects of reform are gradual rather than immediate and that the absence of reform itself is associated with authoritarian durability. Emphasising that inaction is a politically consequential strategy. This thesis repositions land reform as a central institution in the political economy of postcolonial development, demonstrating its enduring relevance for understanding inequality, governance and regime change in the developing world.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Alexiadou, Despina
- Mattes, Robert B.
- Cormier, Ben
- Resource Type
- DOI
Relations
Items
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Visibility | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
PDF of thesis T18011 | 2026-07-08 | Public | Download |