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The structure of ethnic inequality and ethnic voting
Houle, Christian Kenny, Paul D. Park, Chunho
Houle, Christian
Kenny, Paul D.
Park, Chunho
Abstract
Why do some ethnic groups vote along ethnic lines while others do not? In this article, we theorize that the level of ethnic voting depends, partially, on how ethnicity interacts with economic cleavages. Specifically, we argue that between–ethnic group inequality (BGI) increases ethnic voting and that its effect strengthens as within–ethnic group inequality (WGI) decreases. We thus posit that the full structure of ethnic inequality, not only between-group differences, matters for ethnic voting. After presenting our argument, we conduct the first cross-national test of whether the effect of between-group inequality on ethnic voting is conditional on the level of inequality within ethnic groups. Our analysis employs group-level data on 200 ethnic groups from 65 countries. We find strong support for our hypothesis: BGI increases ethnic voting, but its effect is conditional on WGI.
Keywords
ethnic voting, ethnic inequality, economic inequality, ethnic diversity, social cleavages
Date
2019
Type
Journal article
Journal
The Journal of Politics
Book
Volume
81
Issue
1
Page Range
187-200
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Collections
Relation URI
DOI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled