Linguistic Commonality and Political Affinity: Evidence from Moldova

• In Event: Behavioral Effects of Language

Abstract

Governments often link language to their foreign policy due to a perceived relationship between linguistic and political affinities. However, as the resistance of Russian-speaking Ukrainians to Russian invasions in 2014 and 2022 illustrates, linguistic commonality does not necessarily translate into political affinity. In this paper, I examine the conditions under which a common language can facilitate political support. To do so, I use original survey data from Gagauz Yeri (GY), a predominantly ethnic Gagauz region located in the Eastern European country of Moldova. Due to Soviet language policy many GY residents speak Russian preferentially to Gagauz, their traditional Turkic tongue.

Previous research has illustrated that Russian proficiency is correlated with Russian political affinities in GY. However, the question of how this linguistic commonality affects political preferences remains under-explored. Crucially, the disjuncture between ethnicity and language in the GY context allows me to disaggregate the effect of linguistic commonality from the confounding variable of co-ethnicity. Survey data from GY therefore provide me with a unique opportunity to analyze the relationship between language and identity, media consumption and social mobility; as well as the relationship between these traits and political preferences, including pro-Russia sentiment.

Author

• Kyle L. Marquardt, University of Bergen