Ethnicity, inequality, and perceived electoral fairness

Area of Science:

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Democracy Studies

Background:

• Electoral legitimacy is crucial for democratic stability.
• Perceived electoral fairness is understudied compared to other political support measures.
• Existing research shows political support varies by ethnicity and socio-economic status, but not their intersection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how ethnic group power and individual socio-economic status jointly shape perceptions of electoral fairness.
• To explore the interplay between ethnicity and socio-economic status in evaluating electoral legitimacy.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Ethnic Power Relations (EPR) project and the World Value Survey (WVS).
• Analyzed respondents' perceptions of electoral fairness based on their ethnic group's power access and individual socio-economic status.
• Examined the interaction effect between ethnic political status and socio-economic status.

Main Results:

• Ethnic group political status significantly impacts perceived electoral fairness.
• A strong interaction effect was found between ethnic status and socio-economic status.
• Poorer members of non-represented ethnic groups reported substantially lower fairness perceptions.
• Richer members of non-represented ethnic groups showed perceptions similar to represented groups.

Conclusions:

• Socio-economic status can moderate or level ethnic inequalities in perceived electoral fairness.
• Understanding the intersection of ethnicity and socio-economic status is vital for assessing electoral legitimacy.
• Findings highlight the importance of considering intersectionality in political science research.