Survey was conducted before and after the parliamentary election in Romania on 11 December 2016 as a case study on the effect of ethnic party campaigns in communities with different ethnic compositions: ethnic Romanians living in predominantly Hungarian counties, ethnic Romanians in the rest of the country where they are in the majority, and ethnic Hungarians especially from central and western Romania. Respondents were interviewed a first time five to six weeks before the election and another time four to five weeks after the election. The questionnaire consisted of questions on ethnic belonging, trust in individuals and institutions, perceptions of electoral integrity, opinions on parties, and items on life satisfaction and assessments of the current social and political conditions of Romania. While, due to questionnaire constraints, some questions were asked in only one of the interviews, others were recorded in both waves, allowing for analyses of changes over time.The political mobilisation of ethnicity has led to tensions between ethnic groups in, for example, Belgium and Canada, and to violent conflict with disastrous consequences in such diverse cases as Cyprus, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka. Some observers point to the particularistic politics of ethnic parties as fomenting ethnic tensions and call for their regulation. Others argue that ethnic parties may be valuable vehicles in solving such tensions because they contribute to the integration of diverse ethnic groups. However, both views are so far based on assumptions rather than empirical evidence; to date, the effect of ethnic parties on ordinary people within society has not been examined directly. The project fills this gap, contributing to a better understanding of the links between ethnic parties and national unity within the population: Does the presence of ethnic parties affect the way people perceive the ethnic "other" or the nation? Is this effect positive, because ethnic parties as emancipatory vehicles increase the inclusion of ethnic minorities within the population? Or is it negative, because ethnic parties raise awareness of ethnic differences? To answer these questions, the project first conducts a global comparative analysis of 105 diverse countries, using a new multilevel dataset. It will then conduct in-depth studies of two countries to examine the nature of these links. Both the quantitative and in-depth analyses are needed to better understand whether there are general links between the presence of ethnic parties and diminished national unity throughout different contexts and to identify the nature of this link in important cases.

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