Political structure, economic inequality, and homicide: a cross-national analysis

We examine the relationship between political structure, economic inequality, and rates of homicide for a diverse sample of 50 countries by using World Health Organization cause-of-death homicide data circa 1990. By conceptualizing homicide as a means of conflict resolution, we expect countries with a more centralized state structure to have lower average homicide rates than countries with a decentralized democratic political structure owing to the active role of the state in resolving disputes in centralized political environments. Although the findings do not bear this expectation out, we do find a robust positive relationship between economic inequality and homicide rates and partial evidence that the effects of economic inequality may be exacerbated in more democratic environments.