Ethnopolitics

Abstract

Having outlined the different ways in which identity and politics are treated in the literature, it is now appropriate to evaluate how identity is treated in theories of the state. This chapter identifies the limitations of the dominant theories of the state in analyzing ethnically plural societies, especially those in developing countries. It also addresses some of the theoretical shortfalls and concludes by offering an alternative analytic framework of the state, the arena in which the politicization of identity is played out. It is understood here that the state is not a simple or autonomous entity; it is under pressure from different groups to serve different, often contradictory interests. The three dominant theories of the state discussed here are democratic-pluralism, the neo-Marxist conception of the state, and the state-in-society model. In addition, two other perspectives are discussed, which are particular (although by no means exclusive) to politics in developing countries—peripheral capitalist development and patron-clientist relations.