GV4N8      Half Unit
The Politics of Ethnicity

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

Ethnicity constitutes a core political cleavage in democracies and autocracies around the world, shaping elections, redistributive politics, and violent conflict. Yet, at the same time, ethnic identities are constructed through some of the same socio-political processes they affect. This course assesses the political origins and effects of ethnic identities through cutting-edge empirical research in the field. In doing so, it focuses on questions around the formation of  ethnic identities and their politicization, core models of ethnic voting and power-sharing, processes of ethnic favoritism and conflict, and ultimately the making of modern (nation-)states themselves. The course pays particular attention to the interconnections between the origins and effects of politicized ethnicity, thus letting students develop a comprehensive understanding of the topic.

Topics by week

1. The concept of ethnicity
2. States, colonialism, and the shaping of ethnic groups
3. (Re)making ethnicity today
4. Electoral institutions, ethnicity, and voting
5. Ethnic power-sharing
6. Ethnic stacking in bureaucracies and militaries
7. Ethnic favouritism, (re)distribution, and economic development
8. Fighting for power: Ethnicity and political violence
9. Ethnic groups and the making of modern (nation-)states
10. Transformative visions for decoupling ethnic identity from politics

20 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

Memo (750 words)

Literature-based response memo (max. 750 words) that elaborates on core theoretical, methodological, and empirical critiques of the readings for a class as well as one or more avenues for future research that might address them. The memo forms the basis for a 15-minute student-led teaching element in class. Students are strongly encouraged to use their memo as a steppingstone towards developing their formative research design.

Chandra, K. (2006). What is ethnic identity and does it matter?. Annual Review of Political Science, 9(1), 397-424. Franck, R., & Rainer, I. (2012). Does the leader's ethnicity matter? Ethnic favoritism, education, and health in sub-Saharan Africa. American Political Science Review, 106(2), 294-325. Hassan, M. (2017). The strategic shuffle: Ethnic geography, the internal security apparatus, and elections in Kenya. American Journal of Political Science, 61(2), 382-395. Mamdani, M. (2020). Neither Settler nor Native. Harvard University Press. Müller‐Crepon, C., Schvitz, G., & Cederman, L. E. (2025). Shaping states into nations: The effects of ethnic geography on state borders. American Journal of Political Science, 69(1), 132-147. Posner, D. N. (2004). The political salience of cultural difference: Why Chewas and Tumbukas are allies in Zambia and adversaries in Malawi. American Political Science Review, 98(4), 529-545. Robinson, A. L. (2024). The Political Logic of Cultural Revival: Ethnic Visibility, Linked Fate, and Electoral Politics in Africa. Oxford University Press.

Research design (100%, 2500 words) in Spring Term Week 1

A research design (max. 2500 words) on any well-defined question of interest that falls within the perimeter of the course. The research design must specify the gap in the literature on the basis of a literature review, develop a theoretically justified and testable hypothesis, and propose an adequate empirical research design to test it for a suitable (set of) case(s). Students are strongly encouraged to consult with the class teacher while elaborating the research design.