Conciliatory States

Abstract

Existing theory associates ethnolinguistic diversity with a host of negative outcomes. This article analyzes the puzzle of Ghana, the 12th most diverse state globally, yet among the most peaceful, democratic, and developed African states. It argues the position of post-independence political elites within ethno-demographic structures helps explain why some diverse African states pursued broad nation-building public goods, mitigating the political salience of diversity. Diversity encouraged provision of social goods with broad-based support in states with a modest plurality-not large enough to dominate, but without proximately sized ethnic groupsespecially for leaders from a minority. Comparative historical analysis of Ghana is expanded with abbreviated case studies on Guinea, Togo, and Kenya.

Teaching and researching International Development: Amplifying voices from the Global South

“…For example, Casey (2015) finds in Sierra Leone that in areas where voters will cross party lines, diversity actually attracts more ‘campaign goods’ and political patronage. In a similar vein, McDonnell (2016) demonstrates that in Ghana, the presence of an ethnic group that constitutes a modest plurality leads to coalition‐building among smaller ethnic groups and broad targeting of public goods. In the Jordanian context, Gao (2016) concludes that the combination of weak political parties and the presence of multiple politically mobilized ethnic groups actually leads to better service provision.…”

“…Other key studies used to prop up and generalize the development‐deficit thesis included a correlational study of schools in rural western Kenya (Miguel & Gugerty, 2005) and lab experiments carried out in Kampala, Uganda (Habyarimana et al, 2007). By contrast, there is a growing, yet under‐emphasized, body of research (as most of the articles mentioned below have been cited less than 50 times) showing that the ‘diversity‐development deficit thesis’ is exaggerated (Singh & vom Hau, 2016) or does not apply in many countries (Casey, 2015; Gao, 2016; LeVan, 2014; McDonnell, 2016). For example, Casey (2015) finds in Sierra Leone that in areas where voters will cross party lines, diversity actually attracts more ‘campaign goods’ and political patronage.…”