On the Dynamics of Ethnic Fractionalization

Does fractionalization change over (short periods of) time? If so, are there any substantial implications for economic performance? To answer such questions, we construct a new panel data set with measures of ethnic, linguistic, and religious fractionalization for 26 former communist countries covering the period from 1989 to 2002. Our fractionalization measures show that transition economies became more ethnically homogeneous over such a short period of time, although the same did not happen for linguistic and religious diversity. In line with the most recent literature, there seems to be no effect of (exogenous) diversity on macroeconomic performance (that is, on per capita GDP growth). However, we find that dynamic (endogenous) ethnic diversity is negatively related to growth (although this is still not the case for linguistic and religious diversity). These findings are robust to different specifications, polarization measures, and instrument sets as well as to a composite index of ethnic‐linguistic‐religious fractionalization.     

Ethnic Inequality and the Strength of Ethnic Identities in Sub-Saharan Africa

Ethnic inequality has been argued to have numerous pernicious effects. Among other things, scholars have argued that it breeds political violence, destabilizes democracy, and impedes economic development. While the arguments developed by these literatures implicitly assume that ethnic inequality increases the degree to which individuals identify with their ethnicity, this assumption has yet to be tested empirically at the individual-level. This paper argues and empirically demonstrates that between-ethnic group inequality does strengthen ethnic identities. However, we also find that the magnitude of its effect weakens as inequality within ethnic groups increases. That is, individuals identify most strongly with their ethnic identity when ethnicity is reinforced by economic inequality. Using the Afrobarometer, we provide the first cross-national empirical test of the effect of ethnic inequality on the strength of ethnic identities at the individual-level. Our dataset covers 21 sub-Saharan African countries and 85 ethnic groups. Results strongly support our hypothesis.     

Political Competition and Ethnic Identification in Africa

This article draws on data from over 35,000 respondents in 22 public opinion surveys in 10 countries and finds strong evidence that ethnic identities in Africa are strengthened by exposure to political competition. In particular, for every month closer their country is to a competitive presidential election, survey respondents are 1.8 percentage points more likely to identify in ethnic terms. Using an innovative multinomial logit empirical methodology, we find that these shifts are accompanied by a corresponding reduction in the salience of occupational and class identities. Our findings lend support to situational theories of social identification and are consistent with the view that ethnic identities matter in Africa for instrumental reasons: because they are useful in the competition for political power.     

Ethnic Politics and Women's Empowerment in Africa: Ministerial Appointments to Executive Cabinets

Under what conditions do women participate in executive power in multiethnic societies? Previous research has examined how political institutions, socioeconomic factors, and cultural norms affect the appointment of women as cabinet ministers. However, no study has assessed the extent to which the politicization of ethnicity—a cleavage that shapes political life in many countries—affects women's cabinet appointments. Focusing on sub‐Saharan Africa, we argue that women are less likely to become cabinet ministers where incumbents use such appointments to build patronage‐based alliances with politicians who act as advocates for ethnic constituencies. Using an original dataset on the composition of cabinets in 34 African countries from 1980 to 2005, we show that women's share of cabinet appointments is significantly lower in countries where leaders must accommodate a larger number of politicized ethnic groups, but it rises with higher levels of democracy and greater representation of women in parliament.     

Ethnic Networks

Active research on a wide range of political contexts centers on ethnicity's role in collective action. Many theories posit that information flows more easily in ethnically homogeneous areas, facilitating collective action, because social networks among coethnics are denser. Although this characterization is ubiquitous, little empirical work assesses it. Through a novel field experiment in a matched pair of villages in rural Uganda, this article directly examines word‐of‐mouth information spread and its relationship to ethnic diversity and networks. As expected, information spread more widely in the homogeneous village. However, unexpectedly, the more diverse village's network is significantly denser. Using unusually detailed network data, we offer an explanation for why network density may hamper information dissemination in heterogeneous areas, showing why even slight hesitation to share information with people from other groups can have large aggregate effects.     

Ethnic Peace in the Taiwan Strait

The Taiwan Strait has often been referred to as one of the world’s most dangerous hotspots and many dire predictions have been made about a military conflict between mainland China and Taiwan, likely involving the United States. Yet, despite several crises in the Taiwan Strait and numerous war speculations, there has been no major armed conflict between Beijing and Taipei since the 1950s. How do we explain the puzzle that an expected war across the Taiwan Strait did not happen after all? This paper first examines the explanations based on military balance of power. Having found the realist/rationalist explanations less convincing, however, this study explores the explanatory power of the “ethnicity” factor. It suggests that when the Chinese society is no longer divided by ideological differences, the “ethnicity” may provide a more convincing explanation of why a military conflict has not happened in the Taiwan Strait in the past four decades. This paper also considers several counterarguments, including the neo-liberal argument of economic integration as a driving force for peace in the age of globalization. The paper concludes with a discussion of some policy implications resulting from the “ethnic peace” thesis and proposes that when actively promoted by the both sides, the Chinese ethnic identity is likely to be the most important strategic guarantee of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait for many years to come.     

Ethnic Citizenship in the Slovenian State

This article presents some crucial and typical experiences of people who were erased from the Registry of Permanent Residents of the Republic of Slovenia in 1992. In the process of forming the new Slovenian state in 1991 (after the collapse of former Yugoslavia), the body of citizens was newly defined according to the principle of ius sanguinis. This means that ethnic Slovenians who until then were Yugoslav citizens automatically became Slovenian citizens. Permanent residents of Slovenia who ethnically originated in other republics of former Yugoslavia had to file an application to acquire Slovenian citizenship based on Article 40 of the Citizenship of the Republic of Slovenia Act. Approximately 0.9% of Slovenia's population (18,305 people) did not succeed in obtaining Slovenian citizenship because either they did not file an application or their application was rejected. These people were erased from the Registry of Permanent Residents by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on 26 February 1992. The Ministry carried out this secret erasure without any legal basis. The Aliens Act entered into force for the erased which then annulled all their previously acquired rights; legally and formally they were made equivalent to migrants who cross borders illegally. Thus, the people erased from the Registry of Permanent Residents were suddenly left without any rights: the right to a residence in Slovenia (in their homes with their families), the right to cross the state borders, and all other economic, social and political rights. The implementation of the erasure concerns the suspension of basic human rights, the annulment of the principles of a legal state and the production of redundant people. The author argues that the erasure from the Registry of Permanent Residents is constitutive of Slovenian citizenship: the erasure established certain power relations in society and a certain type of democracy.     

Institution-building issues in South Africa

This article discusses structural and labour-market factors associated with institution building in South Africa. It pays particular attention to the role of management development in institution building in the public sector. Two case studies that address the question of organizational restructuring following moves towards commercialization of some public sector organizations are discussed.     

Fiscal Federalism in South Africa

The constitutional change in South Africa in the 1990s broughtabout the decentralization of substantial budgetary responsibilityto newly created provincial governments. This study capturesthe new assignment of functions and resources to the differentspheres of government in South Africa and provides an assessmenton the basis of a framework derived from fiscal federalism principles.It concludes that there is a substantial congruence betweenwhat can be viewed as theoretically desirable and what is outlinedin the South African Constitution of 1996, but observes significantdivergences between the Constitution and actual practice.