Cross-Cutting Cleavages and Ethnic Voting: An Experimental Study of Cousinage in Mali

American Political Science Review, Vol. 104, No. 1, pp. 21-39, February 2010

Posted: 21 May 2010

See all articles by Thad Dunning

Thad Dunning

University of California, Berkeley - Center on the Politics of Development

Lauren Harrison

Yale University - Department of Political Science

Date Written: February 20, 2010

Abstract

Social scientists often attribute moderation of the political salience of ethnicity in ethnically diverse societies to the presence of cross-cutting cleavages - that is, to dimensions of identity or interest along which members of the same ethnic group may have diverse allegiances. Yet, estimating the causal effects of cross-cutting cleavages is difficult. In this article, we present experimental results that help explain why ethnicity has a relatively minor political role in Mali, an ethnically heterogeneous sub-Saharan African country in which ethnic identity is a poor predictor of vote choice and parties do not form along ethnic lines. We argue that the cross-cutting ties afforded by an informal institution called “cousinage” help explain the weak association between ethnicity and individual vote choice. The experimental research design we introduce may be useful in many other settings.

Keywords: Ethnicity, Ethnic Identity, Cross-Cutting Cleavages, Mali, Experimental Design

JEL Classification: C90, C93

Suggested Citation

Dunning, Thad and Harrison, Lauren, Cross-Cutting Cleavages and Ethnic Voting: An Experimental Study of Cousinage in Mali (February 20, 2010). American Political Science Review, Vol. 104, No. 1, pp. 21-39, February 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1612830

Thad Dunning (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley - Center on the Politics of Development ( email )

University of California
221 Moses Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-2308
United States

Lauren Harrison

Yale University - Department of Political Science ( email )

Box 208269
New Haven, DC 06520-8269
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
897
PlumX Metrics