Ethnic identities and parties in Sub-Saharan Africa: A minister-level data project, 1966 to 2016

Ethnic identity is generally considered to be an important aspect of political life, particularly in societies where the population is divided among ethnic lines. In these kinds of society, individuals often use ethnicity to draw connections to the political elite. This is often not out of an innate prejudice against individuals who do not share their ethnicity per se - rather, when elite representatives share ethnic identities with individuals and achieve positions of real political power, individuals tend to experience positive outcomes, according to a number of peer-reviewed empirical analyses. Collecting data on the ethnic identity of the political elite is thus highly important task for scholars of political science.

I intend to use this fellowship to increase public access to quality data on political elites in the context of understanding ethnic power-sharing, which relates to how elite representatives from different ethnic groups are included in, or excluded from, positions of political power such as the legislature or the cabinet. Specifically, this project studies (a) the evolution of ethnic power-sharing in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and; (b) how political parties serve as a focal point for ethnic power-sharing in SSA. SSA, in particular, has experienced the widest variety of ethnic power-sharing configurations such as mono-ethnic rule by majorities (e.g. Mali, Zimbabwe) and minorities (e.g. South Africa, Liberia, Rwanda) and multi-ethnic coalitions (e.g. Kenya). Many scholars argue that different power-sharing configurations tend to produce different outcomes in terms of democratization and civil war, besides many other political phenomena.

This fellowship builds upon the achievements of a data set entitled WhoGov - short for "Who Governs" - I collected with doctoral colleagues that provides bibliographic information on the political elite in 177 countries over a 50-year period (between 1966 and 2016). WhoGov is currently the largest data set of its kind and offers an unparalleled opportunity for us to advance our understanding on who our political elite are. It is both publicly available and high in quality - so much so that it has been introduced in the American Political Science Review, the flagship journal of political science. This fellowship initially involves (a) extending the range of previous data collection endeavours that focus on coding the ethnic identity of the political elite in SSA countries and; (b) collecting information on the ethnic dimension on political parties. Based on this data collection, I aim to produce two high-quality journal articles that will be submitted to top journals in the field.

However, this fellowship will also be used as an opportunity to plan the future of WhoGov. The WhoGov team have been able to demonstrate unique insight into the extent to which women are represented in cabinets globally. We intend to deliver the same insights not only for ethnicity (the subject of this fellowship) but also for such as class, education, family ties and political ideology, and a whole host of other relevant characteristics. This will involve effort and willingness among scholars to engage in collaborative projects that are suitably financed by multiple research funding agencies. I thus intend to use this fellowship to develop a panel proposal that aims to bring together scholars who (a) share the interests of the WhoGov team and; (b) have access to sources of data or use cutting-edge research methods not leveraged already by the WhoGov team. By the end of the fellowship, I will thus develop a research funding proposal that aims to secure the financial future of WhoGov so that we can continue to learn new and interesting facts about our rulers.