If institutions are important for regulating violence, can institutional reforms make societies less violent? This article examines the north-east Brazilian state of Pernambuco primarily between 2007 and 2013, proposing that patterns of declining lethal violence can be explained by changes in both the accountability and effectiveness of formal state institutions and informal social norms. Drawing on two months of qualitative fieldwork, findings suggest that social and political mobilisation enabled a political coalition to initiate substantial changes under the Pacto pela Vida (Pact for Life) public-security programme, which improved the legitimacy and operational effectiveness of the criminal justice system, and coincided with a marked reduction in homicide rates. While showing that these reforms were central in reducing lethal violence in Pernambuco between 2007 and 2013, the article concludes by discussing the challenges of policy continuity in light of increasing rates of lethal violence since 2014.

中文翻译：

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巴西伯南布哥的体制改革和减少暴力

如果制度对于规范暴力很重要，那么制度改革能否减少社会暴力？本文主要考察了 2007 年至 2013 年间巴西东北部的伯南布哥州，提出致命暴力下降的模式可以通过正式国家机构和非正式社会规范的问责制和有效性的变化来解释。通过两个月的定性实地调查，调查结果表明，社会和政治动员使政治联盟能够在 Pacto pela Vida（生命契约）公共安全计划下发起重大变革，从而提高了刑事司法系统的合法性和运作效率，同时凶杀率显着下降。