Ethnicity in Voter-Politician Interactions

• In Event: Decision Making Among Political Elites

Abstract

When and why do ethnic considerations become salient in vote-giving and vote-getting? Focusing on Indian elections, we establish the conditional importance of caste and religion to voters and politicians. We develop a theory of ethnic voting and mobilization based on fieldwork conducted over two years in six districts. We then validate the theory outside these districts through surveys, behavioral games conducted in a field lab, and an audit experiment. We find that ethnicity affects vote choice in a variety of situations, and for distinct reasons. Prejudice plays an important role when groups face status threats, compete for finite resources, fear cultural dilution, or are concerned about demographic change. When there is weak accountability of politicians, ethnicity matters to voters because it provides a credible punishment mechanism. When there is arbitrariness in the allocation of resources and opportunities, ethnicity matters because it helps establish connections with politicians, and provides common cultural material that improves communication. Even when there is programmatic allocation, ethnicity plays an important role because it can determine preferences on policies, and how they should be implemented. As far as ethnic mobilization is concerned, we argue that politicians appeal to identity when party organizations are weak, and they depend on traditional networks to reach voters; or because it is low effort and the “easiest mode of politics” available to them.

The paper contributes to a burgeoning literature on ethnic politics. It highlights the role of prejudice, network characteristics, common cultural material, and shared tastes in ethnic voting.
It also identifies weak party organizations, and the resulting dependence on traditional mobilization networks, as a reason for the use of ethnicity in vote-getting.

Author

• Shikhar Singh, Yale University