Social Identity and Voting in Afghanistan

Evidence from a Survey Experiment

Dados Bibliográficos

ID13015644
AutoresTorsten Jochem (University of Amsterdam, autor correspondente), Ilia Murtazashvili (0000-0001-9096-9488, University of Pittsburgh), Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili (0000-0003-4919-9287, University of Pittsburgh)
Ano2015
Volume2
Fascículo1
Páginas47-62
Data de publicação2015-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Experimental Political Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2052-2630 • E-ISSN: 2052-2649
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/xps.2014.28
OpenAlexW2027173333
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas27

The basis of social identity in Afghanistan is the concept of qawm. As qawm refers to an individual’s solidarity group, such as village, tribe, subtribe, or even ethnic group, it captures broad in-group/out-group distinctions. We analyze a survey experiment to explore how qawm affiliation affects individual perceptions of politicians running for a fictitious local election. Contrary to expectations derived from the literatures on Afghanistan and on identity politics, we find qawm affiliation does not influence voter choice or perceived importance that a fellow qawm member should be elected. Moreover, qawm affiliation actually undermines individual perceptions a candidate will work on behalf of voters if elected. We explore two general mechanisms that may explain these findings, including weakening social ties and salience of the qawm

Collective identity · Ethnic group · General Social Survey · Identity (music · Perception · Political science · Politics · Salience (neuroscience · Social group · Social identity theory · Sociology · Solidarity · Survey data collection · Tribe · Voting · Corruption and Economic Development · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Psychology · Social Psychology