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Measuring Ethnic Voting: Do Proportional Electoral Laws Politicize Ethnicity?

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  • John D. Huber

Abstract

I develop four related measures of the “ethnicization” of electoral behavior. Each measure increases as ethnic identity becomes more central to vote choice, but the measures differ along two theoretical dimensions. The first dimension contrasts a group‐based perspective (which focuses on cohesion in the voting patterns of group members) with a party‐based perspective (which focuses on the composition of groups supporting political parties). The second dimension contrasts a fractionalization perspective (which assumes that more groups or parties cause more problems) with a polarization perspective (which assumes that problems are greatest when there are two equal‐sized groups or parties). Using survey data to implement the measures in 43 countries, the article shows that proportional electoral laws are associated with lower levels of ethnicization—the opposite of what is widely assumed. I argue that the lower levels of ethnicization in PR systems should be unsurprising.

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  • John D. Huber, 2012. "Measuring Ethnic Voting: Do Proportional Electoral Laws Politicize Ethnicity?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(4), pages 986-1001, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:56:y:2012:i:4:p:986-1001
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2012.00601.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Vincenzo Galasso, 2020. "Market Reactions to Quest for Decentralization and Independence: Evidence from Catalonia," CESifo Working Paper Series 8254, CESifo.
    2. Margherita Negri, 2017. "Preferential Votes and Minority Representation," Discussion Paper Series, School of Economics and Finance 201712, School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews.
    3. Anirban Mitra, 2018. "Mandated Political Representation and Redistribution," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 85(338), pages 266-280, April.
    4. Jeffrey Conroy-Krutz, 2016. "Competing cleavages in sub-Saharan Africa?: How economic distance affects ethnic bloc politics," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-104, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Carl Müller-Crepon, 2022. "Local ethno-political polarization and election violence in majoritarian vs. proportional systems," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(2), pages 242-258, March.
    6. McNamee, Lachlan, 2019. "Indirect colonial rule and the salience of ethnicity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 142-156.
    7. Massimo Morelli & Laura Ogliari & Long Hong, 2023. "Power Mismatch and Civil Conflict:An Empirical Investigation," Working Papers 703, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
    8. De Luca, Giacomo & Hodler, Roland & Raschky, Paul A. & Valsecchi, Michele, 2018. "Ethnic favoritism: An axiom of politics?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 115-129.
    9. Bluhm, Richard & Hodler, Roland & Schaudt, Paul, 2021. "Local majorities: How administrative divisions shape comparative development," Economics Working Paper Series 2110, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    10. Jean-François Laslier & André Blais & Damien Bol & Sona N Golder & Philipp Harfst & Laura B Stephenson & Karine Van der Straeten, 2015. "The EuroVotePlus experiment," European Union Politics, , vol. 16(4), pages 601-615, December.
    11. Jeffrey Conroy-Krutz, 2016. "Competing cleavages in sub-Saharan Africa? How economic distance affects ethnic bloc politics," WIDER Working Paper Series 104, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Margherita Negri, 2018. "Preferential votes and minority representation in open list proportional representation systems," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 50(2), pages 281-303, February.
    13. Richard Bluhm & Roland Hodler & Paul Schaudt, 2021. "Ethnofederalism and Ethnic Voting," CESifo Working Paper Series 9314, CESifo.
    14. Satoshi Tanaka, 2020. "Power Sharing and Patronage Ethnic Politics: The Political Economy of Ethnic Party Dominance in the Dayton Bosnia," OSIPP Discussion Paper 20E005, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University.
    15. Lee Drutman, 2022. "Moderation, Realignment, or Transformation? Evaluating Three Approaches to America’s Crisis of Democracy," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 699(1), pages 158-174, January.
    16. Carlos Alós-Ferrer & Johannes Buckenmaier, 2021. "Voting for compromises: alternative voting methods in polarized societies," ECON - Working Papers 394, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    17. Carl Müller-Crepon & Yannick Pengl & Nils-Christian Bormann, 2022. "Linking Ethnic Data from Africa (LEDA)," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(3), pages 425-435, May.
    18. Achyuta Adhvaryu & James Fenske, 2014. "Conflict and the Formation of Political Beliefs in Africa," HiCN Working Papers 164, Households in Conflict Network.

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