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Measuring Ethnic Voting

Do Proportional Electoral Laws Politicize Ethnicity

Bibliographic Data

ID6232050
AuthorsJohn D Huber (0000-0002-2209-7785, Columbia University, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume56
Issue4
Pages986-1001
Publication date2012-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1540-5907.2012.00601.x
OpenAlexW1654896026
LanguageEN
Citations received81
References cited45

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

Cohesion (chemistry · Democracy · Dimension (graph theory · Economics · Ethnic group · Fractionalization · Perspective (graphical · Polarization (electrochemistry · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Proportional representation · Sociology · Statistics · Survey data collection · Turnout · Voting · Voting behavior · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Mathematics · Populism, Right-Wing Movements

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Unique citing works81
Citations per year6,23
Citation span2013 - 2026 (14)
Citation velocitycurrent
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Citation typesNeutral: 81
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