APPLIED MICRO: Ethnofederalism and ethnic voting; Professor Richard Bluhm (University of Stuttgart)

Abstract

We examine how the design of subnational political borders shapes the ethnicization of national politics. To do so, we introduce novel measures that capture the extent to which political boundaries are ethnofederal or cross-cutting from the perspective of individuals living in a particular place and identifying with a particular group. We then take advantage of the 2010 constitutional reform in Kenya, which divided the country's eight provinces into 47 counties and devolved power to these new counties. Using event study and difference-in-difference designs, we find that ethnofederal reforms reduce ethnic voting in national elections. A key channel is that ethnofederalism "tranquilizes" locally powerful groups that control the provision of local public goods. Finally, we use our estimates to determine the optimal political borders that would most reduce ethnic voting in Kenya.