ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the relationship between the degree of ethnic voting and pre-electoral violence. The chapter then demonstrates a robust positive association between a country's level of ethnic voting and the use of violence during election campaigns, using 54 nationally representative surveys from 19 different countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and four different measures of pre-electoral violence. First, the chapter focuses on pre-electoral violence-that is, violence committed during the campaign period in order to suppress turnout of certain groups of voters. It argues that higher levels of ethnic voting should increase the likelihood of violent election campaigns, since it increases electoral competition and renders other campaign tactics, such as programmatic appeals and patronage, ineffective. Second, the chapter highlights the importance of the social structure and behavior of the electorate next to the institutional and economic factors, with regard to the more specialized literature on electoral violence. Finally, it concludes, the result's implications, and suggests avenues for future research.
