Managing Dissent in a Post-genocide Environment: The Challenge of Political Space in Rwanda Danielle Beswick ABSTRACT This article analyses how political space, defined here as the ability of actors other than the government to critically engage in debate on government policy and practice, is being constituted in post-genocide Rwanda. Using evidence from interviews with civil society activists and examples from the Rwandan Government’s post-genocide policies, it explores the kind of political space which results from an interplay of potentially competing influences. These include the promotion of a liberal approach to democracy, favoured by many of Rwanda’s donors, and a more tightly-managed and limited transition which is both preferred by and beneficial for the RPF Government. The article shows that although space could be seen in some areas as opening, this trend is hampered by government actions, including legislative and shadow methods, by donor reluctance to pressure the ruling RPF and by fear within civil society of tackling politically sensitive issues. In conclusion, the author suggests that this fear is reinforced by government policies which narrow perceptions of political space, exacerbated by perceived abandonment of civil society by donors, and that in combination these factors pose a long-term challenge to more openly contested politics in Rwanda. INTRODUCTION A range of factors influence the ways in which politics develops after con- flict. These affect the space within which different actors can operate and the methods of political action which are open to them. They can include the causes and characteristics of the preceding conflict, and the relationship between and relative power of previously warring parties. In developing states that are relatively dependent on donor aid, the potentially com- peting requirements of political reconstruction, governance and political space are perhaps even more pronounced. These features of developing and I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments in developing this paper and Professor Rosaleen Duffy and Dr Heather Marquette for their constructive feedback. I am also grateful to the Economic and Social Research Council for funding the research on which this article is based (Award number 030-2004-00069) and of course to the Rwandan and international interviewees, some of whom remain necessarily nameless here, who contributed greatly to this research. Development and Change 41(2): 225–251 (2010). C  International Institute of Social Studies 2010. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St., Malden, MA 02148, USA