(iPoster) Ethnic Mobilization and the Politics of Recognition in New Democracies

• In Event: Poster Sessions: Comparative Politics of Developing Countries & Occupation, Memory, and National Identity
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Comparative Politics of Developing Countries

Abstract

Democracies are expected to protect minority rights, yet recognition varies widely across cases. Why do some democracies recognize ethnic minority rights while others do not? This paper presents the large-N component of an ongoing book project that explains variation in ethnic minority recognition across democratic states. I argue that recognition is driven by minority agency and mobilization capacity rather than by fixed group characteristics or international pressure. The paper theorizes how assimilationist nation-building, mass education, and socioeconomic exclusion generate ethnic elites and dense ethnic societies, which in turn enable minorities to build strong mobilization capacities. Using an original dataset on 58 minority groups in 20 European new democracies from 1974 to 2024, the analysis shows that institutionalized nonviolent mobilization, especially through ethnic parties, significantly increases the likelihood of recognition, whereas violent mobilization reduces it. Hybrid mobilization produces conditional effects: the presence of armed groups can enhance the bargaining power of ethnic parties and partially offset the negative effects of violence on recognition. The paper contributes to research on ethnic politics and political violence by clarifying how mobilization capacity emerges, how mobilization strategies shape state responses, and why minority recognition results from political contestation rather than following automatically from democratic institutions.

Author

• Oner Yigit, University of North Carolina at Charlotte