election violence

1705 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Causes and solutions to ethnic conflicts in

Elections are supposed to function as a peaceful means for making decisions and settling political differences. But they do not always function in this way: sometimes, they trigger political violence. Especially ethnically divided societies are often thought to be prone to such dynamics. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the 2007 Kenyan elections and the 2006 and 2011 elections in Zambia. Working with these cases, it asks, first, whether the presence of ethnic diversity must lead to violence around election time. In a second step, the paper then refines this question to ask under what conditions ethnic diversity tends to lead to election violence, considering factors such as the electoral system, the numerical balance of ethnic groups, the closeness of elections, economic, social, and historical background conditions, and elite strategies, as well as how these factors might interact with one another
To start with, we cannot proceed by talking about how ethnic diversity led to violence around election time and under what conditions did election violence emerge before actually defining ethnicity, ethnic diversity and its role in Africa and especially in both Kenya and Zambia.

Ethnicity is when a group of people share the same background, race, culture, norms or values. They live together in closed communities and seek to conserve and protect their cultural and political identities. “Ethnic identity categories, I propose, are a subset of identity categories in which eligibility for membership is determined by descent-based attributes”(Chandra Kanchan;2006;4). Knowing that ethnic diversity means having various ethnicities within the same territory, we have to examine if it preserves the oneness of ...

... middle of paper ...

...ory 111 (745): 181-186
3. Lindemann, Stefan. 2011. “Inclusive Elite Bargains and the Dilemma of Unproductive Peace: A Zambian Case Study.” Third World Quarterly 32 (10): 1843–1869.
4. Cheeseman, Nic and Miles Larmer. 2013. “Ethnopopulism in Africa: Opposition Mobilization in Diverse and Unequal Societies.” Democratization: 1-29.
5. Hoffman, Barak D. and James D. Long. 2013. “Parties, Ethnicity, and Voting in African Elections.” Comparative Politics 45(2): 126-146.
6. NBCNews,2007, “Kenya struggles to confront crisis” January 6th. http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/22528573#22528573
7. Chandra, Kanchan. 2006. “What Is Ethnicity and Does It Matter?” Annual Review of Political Science 9: 397–424.
8. United Nation, General Assembly GA/SPD/455, Sixty-fifth General Assembly Fourth Committee7th Meeting (AM), http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2010/gaspd455.doc.html

Show More
Related

  • Historical Trauma Case Study

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    For this study, researcher classified the cultural identity of the participants as traditional, assimilated, bicultural, or marginalized by how they identified with highly with Indian values, highly with white values, ewally with both, or with none.

    Read More

  • The Latino Journey in the United States: Immigrants

    1699 Words  | 4 Pages

    Song, Sarah. "Majority norms, multiculturalism, and gender equality." American Political Science Review 99.04 (2005): 473-489.

    Read More

  • Race And Ethnicity Essay

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    Therefore it has become a source of division within the working class that only works in favor for the bourgeois and capitalist. On the there hand, Ethnicity has a wider concept than race but still can be useful and counterproductive. To begin, one obvious reason why ethnicity is useful because it allows for other cultures, customs to express themselves. Secondly, promotes multiculturalism and diversity. Be that as it may, it is counterproductive and overlapping because the systematic distinctions within ethnicity lead to equality and inequality in society Therefore resulting to racial supremacy and privilege. Given these points, in this paper, I will discuss in details the ways in which the concepts of race and ethnicity are useful and how they are counterproductive with regards to different authors; Peter Wade, Robert Milles, Etienne Balibar, David Nirebeng, Roman Grosfoguel and Joan

    Read More

  • Family And Mexican Family

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    To most people ethnicity is shown by values, lifestyles, customs, and rituals that are personal to an individual ethnic group or religion. The feeling of belonging to a certain group is a basic need for mankind. In a sense, ethnicity can be separated into two particular categories, a unique social structure and culture heritage passed down from one generation to the next.

    Read More

  • Class, Socialization, and Politics

    1853 Words  | 4 Pages

    3.)     Bailey Jr., Harry A. and Katz, Ellis. Ethnic Group Politics. Columbus, Ohio: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company, 1969.

    Read More

  • The Mexican American Family

    3712 Words  | 8 Pages

    According to most, ethnicity usually is displayed in the values, attitudes, lifestyles, customs, rituals, and personality types of individuals who identify with particular ethnic groups. Ethnic identifications and memberships in an ethnic group has far﷓reaching effects on both groups and individuals, controlling assess to opportunities in life, feeling of well being and mastery over the futures of one's child and future. These feelings of belonging and attachment to a certain group of people for whatever reason are a basic feature of the human condition. These ties are called "ethnic ties" and the group of people that one is tied to is an "ethnic group." In the general sense, an ethnic group consists of those who share a unique social and cultural heritage that is passed on from generation to generation.

    Read More

  • Colonialism And Ethnicity

    1443 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ethnopolitics remain a central issue in Africa, and may be traced back to colonial state-building. Different colonial styles, specifically those of the French and British and their distinct approaches to colonial rule would have created the degrees of ethnic stratification that are present in African politics even today. The decentralized, indirect system of colonial rule as defined by Baron Lugard implemented by the British created a non hierarchical classification when it came to African ethnicities, while the French colonial system was one that leaned more toward centralization and the building of ethnic hierarchies. Since ethnicities which are not classified hierarchically are more likely to become competitive, often expressed through hostility and conflict, it may be theorized that the British system is closely linked with current ethnopolitical friction. The French colonies, with ranked systems of rule, led to a centralized power structure that was bureaucratic and delayed and quelled interethnic struggles. While ethnic boundaries were emphasized by colonialists during the colonialism years, the artificial constructions surrounding ethnicities were picked up by Africans themselves and taken to the political stage. This paper will briefly discuss how ethnic divides affect government, using the examples of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Read More

  • Evolution of Racial and Ethnic Dynamics in the US

    1515 Words  | 4 Pages

    More focus into the ethnic groups is just another racial grouping on a different perspective. The increased competition for ethnic identity among ethnic groups is posing as a rediscovery of racial groups, in which ethnic groups are termed as majority or minority groups. However, the shift to ethnic group has shaped some characteristics of individuals that were previously coined in social differentiation according to race. One of the noticeable individual features that have been shaped is the aspect of mutual and collective interests, in which every member strives to protect common interests of the group e.g. human rights. I believe that racial and ethnic groups are things that will continue to exist from our past historical experiences. We can together wipe out the problem of discrimination and injustices based on ethnicity and racial differences, if we all strive towards cherishing social consciousness for one another as a one human race and freeing ourselves from the trappings of our racial and ethnic

    Read More

  • Group Separatism

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ethnicity has long been a cultural separator and gap closer for many generations. From the civil rights and black movements of the past and currently today, to the American Indians reservations and concentration camps of Japanese Americans during World War II. The American people and government are consistently fighting back and forth to try and right some sort of wrong that each party is consistently doing. George M. Fredrickson’s essay, Models of American Relations: A Historical Perspective (Fredrickson), talks about and explains how ethnic groups have been defining themselves for years or how the governments that they live under have been defining them as well. Ethnic groups have been defined and re-defined many different times throughout

    Read More

  • Army Design Methodology

    1263 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shapiro, Ian, Rogers M. Smith, and Tarek E. Masoud, eds. Problems and Methods in the Study of Politics. Cambridge ; Cambridge University Press, 2004.

    Read More

  • Genetically Modified Food (GMOs): Annotated Bibliography

    2902 Words  | 6 Pages

    Dr. Noah Zerbe is a professor and chair of the department of politics at Humboldt State University in California and someone who has spent time in both South Africa and Zimbabwe. Dr. Zerbe goes in depth into the factors that surrounded the 2002 famine in Africa, where 14 million Africans were on the brink of starvation. The Malawi president, just a season before the famine, sold off all of Mal...

    Read More

  • Dominant Party System in Malaysia

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    Haskell, J. (n.d.). Racial Politics, Power, and Dominant Party Autocracy in Malaysia. Retrieved from http://sjir.stanford.edu/6.1.07_haskell.html

    Read More

  • What Are the Causes of Ethnic Conflict?

    2013 Words  | 5 Pages

    Ross, Mark Howard. “The Relevance of Culture for the Study of Political Psychology and Ethnic Conflict”. Political Psychology, Vol. 18, No. 2, Special Issue: Culture and Cross-Cultural

    Read More

  • The Argument for and Against Gender Quotas

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tripp, A, M, 2003. The Changing Face of Africa’s Legislatures: Women and Quotas. Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Available from: Quotaproject.org

    Read More

  • Language and Ethnicity

    1326 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nevertheless, it is important to remember that language is a significant component of ethnicity. However, as any other (component of ethnicity), “it can be perceived and dealt with differently in analysis and classification” (Jenkins): for many ethnic minority groups language proved to be a cornerstone of their vitality, but for such countries as Canada it is rather an optional characteristic in formulating modern ethnicity.

    Read More

More about election violence

Open Document