ABSTRACT
The sum of individual aspirations within a group Schermerhorn calls its "modal tendency." This tendency may be pointing toward the center of society, toward increased group involvement in the larger society, and/or a gradual eradication of cultural differences in the population. In both Latvia and Kazakstan "integration" is a key concept in the official state strategy to eliminate the bipolarization of society arid to ease ethnic tensions. In the cases of Latvia and Kazakstan, however, even the description is rather misleading. In ethnodemographic, structural terms Latvia and Kazakstan fit Horowitz' definition of a centrally focused ethnic system. There are significant differences between Latvia and Kazakstan. While the former is a small country, the size of Ireland, with no more than 2.5 million inhabitants, the latter covers a territory as large as Western Europe, with a population of more than 18 million.
