ABSTRACT
On this basis, I will argue that opposition to welfare expenditures that benefit members of heterogeneous ethnic groups is to a large degree a seconda!)· factor, resulting from the underlying processes that shape human social institutions rather than an independt'nt 'cause'. In this view, ethnic conflict is often a rationalization in response to deeper (and frequently unconscious) factors limiting a willing11ess to contribute to collective goods. In other words, hostility to ethnic out-groups is a 'socially constructed' cultural mechanism for reducing the scope of those benefiting from public policies, and not a primordial or 'natural' factor impinging on contemporary politics.
