Doctoral Dissertation Research: Residents' Interactions with the State

George Washington University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This research project seeks to better understand the link between power-sharing and target-communities' sense of attachment to the state. Conventional wisdom in political science indicates that power-sharing institutions can foster loyalty to the state among certain target groups, such as ethnic minority citizens. However, existing studies have found inconclusive evidence. Additionally, existing research has yet to identify mechanisms linking power-sharing and attachment to the state. This research seeks to address these gaps. Based on an original dataset of household survey and qualitative interviews with local residents and civil servants, it examines power-sharing at the local level of government. Its contribution to the literature lies in a careful tracing and elucidation of the interactions between the target citizens and the state via its agents (the civil servants) and how these interactions shape citizens' view of and attachment to government. This work will inform policymakers that the way in which public service is delivered in a micro-level interaction between citizens and local agents of the state has consequential implications for the way some residents view government institutions. This research project seeks to answer to the following questions: (1) what shapes ethnic minority citizens' sense of attachment to the state?, and (2) why has the state been more successful in winning over a sense of attachment from members of some ethnic minority groups than other groups? To answer these questions, it takes a multi-method approach and uses an original dataset, consisting of household survey data and ethnic minority groups' actual level of representation at various levels of government. It proposes to test a set of hypotheses through regression analysis, and builds on existing literature on power-sharing, but takes a novel approach that focuses on power-sharing at the local -- rather than national -- level of government. Empirically, it goes well beyond showing correlation between the dependent and independent variables of interest; it estimates the effect of power-sharing with ethnic minorities at the national, regional, and local levels of government on their attachment to the state and addresses why and how the effects occur. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.