Ethnoregionalism and electoral dynamics of ethnic minority parties in European countries

Abstract

Due to the ethnic voting, when voters constantly vote for “their” parties, the electoral results of ethnic parties are usually fairly stable. In a number of cases, however, we find electoral dynamics, which are examined in this article in two dimensions: the dynamics of electoral results and the transformation of the ethnic segment of the party system. The study is carried out on the empirical data of 44 ethnic minorities (in 19 European countries) that have had significant political parties over the past electoral cycles. The analysis shows that about a third of ethnic minorities demonstrate substantial dynamics of electoral results, and this is encountered significantly more often among ethnoregionalist parties than among minority parties that do not put forward regionalist demands. More crowded and, most importantly, more conflictual agenda of ethnoregionalist parties results in that their electoral results are more susceptible to fluctuations. Moreover, because ethnic minorities with regionalist demands have more potential cleavages, they are more likely to have several significant parties, and because the relationships between them change from competition to cooperation and vice versa, this contributes to the transformation of the ethnic segment of the party system.