The Political Salience of Cultural Difference

Authors: Daniel N. Posner
Publication: The American Political Science Review, Vol. 98, No. 4, November 2004, pp. 529-545
Main Thesis: This paper investigates how cultural cleavages can influence political behaviors, specifically analyzing the relations between Chewa and Tumbuka peoples across Zambia and Malawi due to the impact of their respective political arenas.

Cultural Cleavages and Political Salience: The study explores the conditions under which cultural differences become politically relevant. It leverages the natural experiment presented by the geographic boundary between Zambia and Malawi.
Key Concept: The political significance of a cultural division depends on the sizes of the defined groups relative to the political arena in which they exist.

Cultural Differences: Cultural factions do not uniformly result in political or social conflict. For instance, many cultural attributes such as skin color, religion, food traditions, etc., exist without triggering political strife.
Political Conflict and Cultural Division: There are numerous instances where political conflicts align with ethnic lines, e.g., Belgium, Cyprus, Rwanda. However, many existing cultural divisors do not lead to significant political divides.
The Puzzle: Why do certain cultural differences evolve into politically significant cleavages while others do not?

Hypothesis: The political importance of cultural cleavages, such as that between the Chewa and Tumbuka, will depend on their group sizes relative to their political arenas. Larger groups can mobilize effectively in political contests.
Natural Experiment: The study uses the Zambia-Malawi border as a context since Chewa and Tumbuka groups are partitioned by this border, showing diverse political responses.

Geographic Partition: The Zambia-Malawi border partitions Chewa and Tumbuka peoples, with the majority residing in Malawi and a minority in Zambia.
Historical Demarcation: The British South African Company defined the boundary around 1891 for administrative purposes, disregarding the existing ethnic distribution, which led to a unique political dynamic.

Traditional Theories: Multiple approaches (primordialism, constructivism, colonization impact) have attempted to address why some cultural differences become politically salient.
Structural Approach: The study proposes structural factors, specifically cultural demography, highlighting that the relative size of groups matter more than their inherent attributes.

Fieldwork Methodology:
- Survey Location: Involved Mukanda and Mwase-Lundazi villages (Zambia) and Mkanda and Kapopo villages (Malawi), each pair situated directly across the border, close in location and ecological conditions.
- Sample Size: Total sample of 180 respondents across the four villages, average differences in cultural perceptions assessed through surveys and focus groups.
Key Survey Questions: Explored personal views on cultural differences, voting intentions for cross-group candidates, and attitudes about intermarriage.

Cultural Perceptions: Respondents perceived objective cultural differences similarly across borders, including language and marriage customs, yet attitudes varied significantly by country.
Political Willingness: Zambian respondents were generally more open to cross-group political support and intermarriage compared to Malawians, highlighting a stark contrast in social relations.
Statistical Analysis: Logit regression showed significant differences between Zambian and Malawian populations regarding political positions and social relations.

Coalitional Behaviors: Politicians in Malawi exploit Chewa-Tumbuka divisions for electoral gains, leading to greater social tensions compared to Zambia, where a broader coalition (easterners) is emphasized.
Group Size Impact: In Malawi, Chewa and Tumbuka groups are sizeable enough (28% and 12% respectively) to serve as viable support bases, hence culturally mobilized which enhances the cleavage's salience. In contrast, in Zambia, these groups are too small (7% and 4%) individually to function as effective political centers.
Reference to Coalitions: Chewas and Tumbukas are often unified in Zambia under collective regional identity (Easterners), diminishing salience of their cultural distinctions. In Malawi, divisions foster competition due to their size and status.

Boundary Impact: The mapping of cultural and administrative boundaries can reinforce political divisions. Malawi's administrative splits correspond with cultural cleavages leading to significant political rivalry that is not paralleled in Zambia.
Testing the Theory with Lakeshore Tonga: A survey among Lakeshore Tonga tested if administrative boundaries can create unfounded divisions, showing these boundaries can shift social identities.

Salience of Cultural Cleavages: Cultural differences are not inherently politically significant; the political relevance arises from contextual factors like demography and administrative organization.
Implications for Political Research:
- The findings challenge traditional views regarding cultural and administrative identities, asserting the size of a group in a given political arena dictates political relevance.
- Calls for careful interpretation of ethnic fractionalization measurements in research to avoid conflating objective differences with political significance.

Comprehensive references provide an extensive grounding of the research in existing literature on ethnicity, political behavior, and socio-political dynamics in Africa.