THE LINK BETWEEN ETHNIC FRACTIONALIZATION AND CORRUPTION REVISED Ethnic voting in Africa

Abstract

This thesis revisits the relationship between ethnic fractionalization and corruption in Africa. An earlier literature argues that ethnic fractionalization leads to corruption via mechanisms involving ethnic favoritism. In this study, an alternative theory suggests that the casual relationship runs in the other direction: when the political system is corrupt and fails to deliver security, voters will fall back on ethnic institutions. This creates the stronger patterns of ethnic identity and ethnic voting that we see in countries considered to be ethnically fractionalized. Conducting three analyses - an OLS regression and an instrumental variable design on the country level, and an individual level analysis on party preferences from the Afrobarometer dataset - the thesis finds support for the alternative theory.