Does multiparty competition increase ethnic secuirty fears? Evidence from North India

This article explores the political foundations of ethnic security fears. We examine the relationship between the structure of party competition at the constituency level and security fears at the individual level in Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest state. We show that security fears are higher in constituencies characterised by multi-party competition. The central implication of this finding is that rather than leading to ethnic moderation, multiparty competition in ethnic party systems tends to be more ethnically divisive than in two party systems, increasing collective fears of the future.