The Ethnicity Distraction? Political Credibility and Partisan Preferences in Africa
Much of the research on ethnicity, development and conflict implicitly assumes that ethnic groups act collectively in pursuit of their interests. Collective political action is typically facilitated by political parties able to make credible commit...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20100312100327 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3722 |
| Summary: | Much of the research on ethnicity,
development and conflict implicitly assumes that ethnic
groups act collectively in pursuit of their interests.
Collective political action is typically facilitated by
political parties able to make credible commitments to
pursue group interests. Other work, however, emphasizes the
lack of political credibility as a source of adverse
development outcomes. Evidence presented here uses partisan
preferences across 16 Sub-Saharan African countries to
distinguish these positions. The evidence is inconsistent
with the credibility of party commitments to pursue
collective ethnic interests: ethnic clustering of political
support is less widespread than expected; members of
clustered ethnic groups exhibit high rates of partisan
disinterest and are only slightly more likely to express a
partisan preference; and partisan preferences are more
affected by factors, such as gift-giving, often associated
with low political credibility. These findings emphasize the
importance of looking beyond ethnicity in analyses of
economic development. |
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