Minority Language Recognition and Political Trust in Authoritarian Regimes

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6340664
AutoresJay C Kao (0000-0002-2245-7939, Loyola University Chicago, IL, USA), Amy H Liu (0000-0001-5380-2849, University of Texas at Austin, USA, autor de correspondencia), Chun‐ying Wu (0000-0002-5128-8345, Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals)
Año2023
Volumen76
Número2
Páginas622-635
Fecha de publicación2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPolitical Research Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1065-9129 • E-ISSN: 1938-274X
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/10659129221097148
OpenAlexW4281705746
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas77

While authoritarian regimes are often characterized by their civil liberty restrictions, some dictatorships acknowledge the ethnolinguistic diversity of their population. Are minorities in multiethnic authoritarian states more likely to trust the government when their language is recognized? In this paper, we argue while recognition of a group’s language improves trust in democracies through a substantive representation mechanism, the same cannot be said in authoritarian regimes. Instead, recognition is a mere symbolic gesture. Such window-dressing efforts call attention to the horizontal inequality between hegemon and minority groups—and such, minority language recognition is associated with negative political trust. We test our argument with the World Values Survey. By identifying which minority groups have been afforded linguistic recognition, we find evidence of a significant—but negative—link between recognition and political trust

Argument (complex analysis · Authoritarianism · Democracy · Dictatorship · Language politics · Linguistics · Minority language · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychology · Social Psychology