Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T07:36:34.187Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Political Mobilization of Ethnic and Religious Identities in Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 October 2014

JOHN F. McCAULEY
JOHN F. McCAULEY*
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
*
John F. McCauley is Assistant Professor, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, 3140 Tydings Hall, College Park, MD 20742 (mccauley@umd.edu).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

When elites mobilize supporters according to different cleavages, or when individuals realign themselves along new identity lines, do their political preferences change? Scholars have focused predominantly on the size of potential coalitions that leaders construct, to the exclusion of other changes that might occur when one or another identity type is made salient. In this article, I argue that changes in the salience of ethnicity and religion in Africa are associated with variation in policy preferences at the individual level. I test this claim empirically using data from a framing experiment in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. By randomly assigning participants to either a religious or an ethno-linguistic context, I show that group members primed to ethnicity prioritize club goods, the access to which is a function of where they live. Otherwise identical individuals primed to religion prioritize behavioral policies and moral probity. These findings are explained by the geographic boundedness of ethnic groups and the geographic expansiveness of (world) religions in the study area.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 108 , Issue 4 , November 2014 , pp. 801 - 816
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Afrobarometer. 2009. “Data: Round 4, by Country.” http://www.afrobarometer.org/data/data-rounds-merged.Google Scholar
Almond, Gabriel, Appleby, R. Scott, and Sivan, Emmanuel. 2003. Strong Religion: the Rise of Fundamentalisms Around the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Badru, Pade. 1998. Imperialism and Ethnic Politics in Nigeria, 1960–1996. Asmara: Africa World Press.Google Scholar
Baldwin, Kate, and Huber, John D.. 2010. “Economic versus Cultural Differences: Forms of Ethnic Diversity and Public Goods Provision.” American Political Science Review 104 (4): 644–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banks, Antoine J., and Valentino, N. A.. 2012. “Emotional Substrates of White Racial Attitudes.” American Journal of Political Science 56 (2): 286–97.Google Scholar
Barkan, Joel D., McNulty, Michael L., and Ayeni, M.A.O.. 1991. “Hometown Voluntary Associations, Local Development, and the Emergence of Civil ociety in Western Nigeria.” The Journal of Modern African Studies 29 (3): 457–80.Google Scholar
Bassett, Thomas J. 2003. “‘Nord Musulman et Sud Chretien’: Les Moules Médiatiques de la Crise Iviorienne.” Afrique Contemporaine 206 (2): 13–27.Google Scholar
Bates, Robert H. 1974. “Ethnic Competition and Modernization in Contemporary Africa.” Comparative Political Studies 6 (4): 457–84.Google Scholar
Bates, Robert H. 1983. “Modernization, Ethnic Competition and the Rationality of Politics in Contemporary Africa.” In Rothchild, Donald and Olorunsola, Victor A., State versus Ethnic Claims: African Policy Dilemmas. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, pp. 152–71.Google Scholar
Bormann, Nils-Christian, Cederman, Lars-Erik, and Vogt, Manuel. 2013. “Ethnonationalist Cleavages in Civil Wars: Allah's Wrath or Babel's Legacy?” EPSA Paper 647, European Political Science Association.Google Scholar
Brubaker, Rogers. 2004. Ethnicity Without Groups. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, Aidan. 1997. “Ethical Ethnicity: A Critique.” Journal of Modern African Studies 35 (1): 53–79.Google Scholar
Chandra, Kanchan. 2004. Why Ethnic Parties Succeed: Patronage and Ethnic Head Counts in India. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Chandra, Kanchan. 2006. “What is Ethnic Identity and Does It Matter?” Annual Review of Political Science 9: 397–424.Google Scholar
Dozon, Jean-Pierre. 2000. “La Côte d’Ivoire entre Democratie, Nationalisme, et Ethnonationalisme.” Politique Africaine 78: 45–62.Google Scholar
Dunning, Thad, and Nilekani, Janhavi. 2013. “Ethnic Quotas and Political Mobilization: Caste, Parties, and Distribution in Indian Village Councils.” American Political Science Review 107 (1): 35–56.Google Scholar
Dustmann, Christian, and Preston, Ian. 2001. “Attitudes to Ethnic Minorities, Ethnic Context and Location Decisions.” The Economic Journal 111: 353–73.Google Scholar
Esteban, Joan, and Ray, Debraj. 2008. “On the Salience of Ethnic Conflict.” American Economic Review 98 (5): 2185–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falola, Toyin. 1998. Violence in Nigeria: the Crisis of Religious Politics and Secular Ideologies. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.Google Scholar
Fearon, James D., and Laitin, David D.. 2000. “Violence and the Social Construction of Ethnic Identity.” International Organization 54 (4): 845–77.Google Scholar
Ferree, Karen, and Horowitz, Jeremy. 2010. “Ties that Bind? The Rise and Decline of Ethno-regional Partnerships in Malawi, 1994–2009.” Democratization 17 (3): 534–63.Google Scholar
Fox, Jonathon. 2004. “The Rise of Religious Nationalism and Conflict: Ethnic Conflict and Revolutionary Wars, 1945–2001.” Journal of Peace Research 41 (6): 715–31.Google Scholar
Franck, Raphaël and Rainer, Ilia. 2012. “Does the Leader's Ethnicity Matter? Ethnic Favoritism, Education, and Health in Sub-Saharan Africa.” American Political Science Review 106 (2): 294–324.Google Scholar
Green, Elliott D. 2006. “Ethnicity and the Politics of Land Tenure Reform in Central Uganda.” Commonwealth and Comparative Politics 44 (3): 370–88.Google Scholar
Guiso, Luigi, Sapienza, Paola, and Zingales, Luigi. 2003. “People's Opium? Religion and Economic Attitudes.” Journal of Monetary Economics 50: 225–82.Google Scholar
Hogg, Michael A. 2006. “Social Identity Theory.” In Burke, Peter James, Contemporary Social Psychological Theories. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, pp. 111–36.Google Scholar
Horowitz, Donald L. 1985. Ethnic Groups in Conflict. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley University Press.Google Scholar
Huntington, Samuel. 1996. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Iyengar, Shanto, Peters, Mark D., and Kinder, Donald R.. 1982. “Experimental Demonstrations of the ‘Not-So-Minimal’ Consequences of Television News Programs. American Political Science Review 76 (4): 848–58.Google Scholar
Jordan, Jennifer, Mullen, Elizabeth, and Murnighan, J. Keith. 2011. “Striving for the Moral Self: The Effects of Recalling Past Moral Actions on Future Moral Behavior.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 37 (5): 701–13.Google Scholar
Kaoma, Kapya J. 2009. “The Marriage of Convenience: The U.S. Christian Right, African Christianity, and Postcolonial Politics of Sexual Identity.” In Weiss, Meredith L. and Bosia, Michael J., Global Homophobia: States, Movements, and the Politics of Oppression. Champagne, IL: University of Illinois Press, pp. 75–102.Google Scholar
Kasfir, Nelson. 1979. “Explaining Ethnic Political Participation.” World Politics 31 (April): 365–88.Google Scholar
Klor, Esteban F., and Shayo, Moses. 2010. “Social Identity and Preferences over Redistribution.” Journal of Public Economics 94: 269–78.Google Scholar
Laitin, David D. 1986. Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Religious Change among the Yoruba. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Laitin, David D. 1998. Identity in Formation: The Russian-Speaking Populations of the Near Abroad. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Laitin, David. 2000. “Language Conflict and Violence: The Straw that Strengthens the Camel's Back.” Archives Européennes de Sociologie 41 (1): 97–137.Google Scholar
Lawry, S.W. 1990. “Tenure Policy toward Common Property Natural Resources in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Natural Resources Journal 30: 403–22.Google Scholar
Olivier de Sardan, Jean-Pierre. 1999. “A Moral Economy of Corruption in Africa?” Journal of Modern African Studies 37 (1): 25–52.Google Scholar
Olzak, Susan. 2011. “Does Globalization Breed Ethnic Discontent?” Journal of Conflict Resolution 55 (1): 3–32.Google Scholar
Onaiyekan, John. 1983. “Tribal Religion in General.” In Adegbola, E. A., Traditional Religion in West Africa. Ibadan: Daystar Press, pp. 238–41.Google Scholar
Opp, Karl-Dieter. 1989. The Rationality of Political Protest. Boulder: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Elinor. 2000. “Collective Action and the Evolution of Social Norms.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 14: 137–58.Google Scholar
Penn, Elizabeth Maggie. 2008. “Citizenship versus Ethnicity: The Role of Institutions in Shaping Identity Choice.” The Journal of Politics 70 (4): 956–73.Google Scholar
Posner, Daniel N. 2005. Institutions and Ethnic Politics in Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Prunier, Gérard. 1995. The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D. and Campbell, David E.. 2010. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Reinikka, Ritva. 2006. “Using Micro-Surveys to Measure and Explain Corruption.” World Development 34 (2): 359–70.Google Scholar
Reynal-Querol, Marta. 2002. “Ethnicity, Political Systems, and Civil Wars.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 46: 29–54.Google Scholar
Rothchild, Donald. 1997. Managing Ethnic Conflict in Africa: Pressures and Incentives for Cooperation. Washington: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Sachdeva, Sonya, Iliev, Rumen, and Medin, Douglas L.. 2009. “Sinning Saints and Saintly Sinners: The Paradox of Moral Self-Regulation.” Psychological Science 20 (4): 523–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sachs, Natan B. 2010. “Shame and Religious Prosociality.” Unpublished manuscript, Stanford University.Google Scholar
Sachs, Natan B. 2009. “Experimenting with Identity: Islam, Nationalism, and Ethnicity.” Unpublished manuscript, Stanford University.Google Scholar
Sambanis, Nicholas. 2001. “Do Ethnic and Nonethnic Civil Wars Have the Same Causes? A Theoretical and Empirical Inquiry.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 45 (3): 259–82.Google Scholar
Sambanis, Nicholas, and Shayo, Moses. 2013. “Social Identification and Ethnic Conflict.” American Political Science Review 107, 2: 294–325.Google Scholar
Schultz, Kenneth F., Altman, Douglas, and Moher, David, for the CONSORT Group. 2010. “CONSORT 2010 Statement: Updated Guidelines for Reporting Parallel Group Randomized Trials.” Annals of Internal Medicine 152 (11): ePub.Google Scholar
Shayo, Moses. 2009. “A Model of Social Identity with an Application to Political Economy: Nation, Class, and Redistribution.” American Political Science Review 103, 2: 147–74.Google Scholar
Shariff, Azim F., and Norenzayan, Ara. 2007. “God Is Watching You: Priming God Concepts Increases Prosocial Behavior in an Anonymous Economic Game.” Psychological Science 18 (9): 803–09.Google Scholar
Simon, Herbert. 1985. “Human Nature in Politics: The Dialogue of Psychology with Political Science.” American Political Science Review 79: 293–304.Google Scholar
Staniland, Martin. 1975. The Lions of Dagbon: Political Change in Northern Ghana. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Southall, Aidan. 1970. “The Illusion of Tribe.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 5: 28–50.Google Scholar
Tajfel, Henri, and Turner, John C.. 1979. “An Integrative Theory of Inergroup Conflict.” In Austin, W.G. and Worchel, S., The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole, pp. 33–47.Google Scholar
Toft, Monica D. 2005. The Geography of Ethnic Violence: Identity, Interests, and the Indivisibility of Territory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Varshney, Ashutosh. 2002. Ethnic Conflict and Civil Life: Hindus and Muslims in India. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Weber, Christopher, and Thorton, Matthew. 2012. “Courting Christians: How Political Candidates Prime Religious Considerations in Campaign Ads.” The Journal of Politics 74 (2): 400–13.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, Steven. 2004. Votes and Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wissler, Clark. 1923. Man and Culture. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.Google Scholar
World Christian Database. 2010. “Africa; Religious Change Over Time.” http://www.worldchristiandatabase.org/wcd/.Google Scholar
Young, Crawford. 1979. The Politics of Cultural Pluralism. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

McCauley Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download McCauley Supplementary Material(PDF)
PDF 79.4 KB