Ethnic Diversity and Overurbanization in the Middle East: (Originally) Benign Differences with (Hidden) Political Consequences

摘要: Ethnic conflicts are discussed frequently in political discourse. One particularly controversial issue is the debate over whether ethnic diversity has negative effects on society, and findings this seem to be somewhat contradictory. While some scholars claim that fragmentation predisposed higher levels of conflict less economic cooperation, others argue there little no independent effect politico-economic climate, another group suggest actually likely lead civil conflict. Much extant literature attempts make sweeping generalizations about causes conflict, but influence context central article. More specifically, I particular interaction rapid urbanization heterogeneity can create a harmful combination suppress freedoms. Using Freedom House scores part Fearon’s fractionalization measures, find that, Middle East, ethnically heterogeneous states with high associated dramatically lower freedom.