Ethnic Cleavages and Vote Choice in Trinidad and Tobago

Bibliographic Data

ID12891789
AuthorsJeetendra Khadan (0000-0002-2172-1590, Inter-American Development Bank, corresponding author), Inder J Ruprah (Oldham Council), Luisa Godinez Puig (0000-0001-7533-4097, Boston University)
Year2022
Volume22
Issue2
Pages222-252
Publication date2022-01-31
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnopolitics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1744-9057 • E-ISSN: 1744-9065
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17449057.2021.2023275
OpenAlexW4210368741
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited27

Trinidad and Tobago is mostly split between two main ethnic groups of African and Indian origins, yet there is little empirical research on the importance of these social cleavages in voting behaviour in the country. One branch of scholarly work on ethnic voting suggests that individuals use social identities as heuristics to evaluate candidates. However, another line of research has found that the role of ethnicity in elections is declining in specific contexts. This manuscript explores the importance of ethnic cleavages in voting patterns in Trinidad and Tobago. We use the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) surveys and conduct a series of probit models to test which factors influence voting the most in the twin-islands. We find that ethnicity is the main factor associated with voters’ choice, but other factors that are associated with voting decisions, such as voters’ political ideology, education, and place of residence. These findings inform the ongoing debate on the importance of ethnicity in voting behaviour

Demographic economics · Economics · Ethnic group · Latin Americans · Political science · Politics · Probit model · Residence · Voting · Voting behavior · Caribbean history, culture, and politics · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Law · Microfinance and Financial Inclusion

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