The FARC in the Public Eye: Negotiation, Integration, and Political Participation

Abstract

After four years of negotiations between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC), a peace agreement was signed in 2016. This accord ended a five-decade-long conflict that has touched almost every Colombian in some way. Over these decades, the FARC has been an omnipresent actor who most citizens reject. Yet a minority of Colombians who have lived under the FARC's influence may still see them as a substitute for a distant state. Understanding how the Colombian public views the FARC as a political and social actor is not only important for understanding this intriguing case, but it also potentially holds lessons for other conflicts whose resolution will take place in the context of democratic politics. The purpose of this introduction is threefold. First, it seeks to contextualise the recent peace agreement historically. Second, it provides descriptive public opinion data on the 2016 accord, the FARC, and peace, underscoring elites' influence in these areas. Third and finally, this introduction gives thumbnail sketches of the articles in this special issue and outlines their main contributions.