Explaining Resentment of Bilingual Ballots: Evidence from Republic of Georgia

• In Event: Cultural Foundations of State Building

Abstract

Bilingualism acknowledges the linguistic presence of a second group – often a minority group. While such policies may be welcomed by those in the minority group, there is research to suggest that those in the majority may not share such sentiments. In this paper, I ask: What explains majority resentment towards bilingualism? I draw on two oft-cited explanations in ethnic politics. The first is about a threat to the identity: seeing the second language in public constitutes some form of cultural intrusion. The second explanation is about competition over scarce resources: dealing with the second language – even if it means skipping over it – can be inefficient. To test these two hypotheses, I employ a survey experiment from the Republic of Georgia. Georgian – a non-Indo-European language – has its own script. I test how the presence of the Russian language alongside Georgian – and whether the two are conjoined or combined – affects a respondent’s attitudes towards Russia and their speed in answering the survey. For robustness, I also consider the effects of Georgian-English bilingual ballots.

Author

• Amy H. Liu, University of Texas at Austin