Title Everyday identity and electoral politics : race, ethnicity, and the bloc vote in South Africa and beyond / Adam S. Harris

Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2022] ©2022

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Description 1 online resource (xii, 247 pages) : illustrations, map Summary "While ethnic identities are found to play a key role in politics, not all members of a group toe their group's line and vote for its affiliated party. Why do some voters choose not to vote with their group when doing so can often be advantageous given the norms of ethnic favoritism observed across Africa? According to Afrobarometer data, between 30-52% of voters in Sub-Saharan Africa do not vote for their ethnic groups' party. This book argues that as individuals are less readily identified as members of their ethnic group, they are less likely to be treated as if they are members of that group, which in turn weakens their identification with the group. Individuals who weakly identify with their group are less likely to be influenced by their identity when voting. This approach makes this book the first study to theorize and empirically test the effects of the everyday identity construction process on ethnic salience and in turn on vote choice. To test the theory, the book develops the concept of ethnic distance and measures it empirically. Empirical tests find support for the argument in South Africa, Uganda, and the United States. These cases allow me to test the effect of ethnic distance on several different ethnic dimensions (race, language, and region) in a variety of contexts. As a first step toward matching our scholarly concepts of ethnicity to its complexity in the real world, this study is poised to alter the way we think about ethnicity in politics"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Description based on online resource; title from home page (Oxford Academic, viewed on March 16, 2023) Subject Political participation -- Social aspects -- South Africa Identity politics -- South Africa Voting -- Social aspects -- South Africa Ethnicity -- Political aspects -- South Africa Race -- Political aspects -- South Africa Group identity -- Political aspects -- South Africa Ethnicity -- Political aspects Group identity -- Political aspects Identity politics Political participation -- Social aspects Race -- Political aspects Voting -- Social aspects South Africa Form Electronic book LC no. 2021056061 ISBN 9780197638217 019763821X 9780197638231 0197638236 9780197638224 0197638228

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