51茶馆

We examine the e铿�ect of group size of minorities on their representation in national government under majoritarian (MR) and proportional (PR) electoral systems. We 铿乺st establish a robust empirical regularity using an ethnicity-country level panel data comprising 438 ethno-country minority groups across 102 democracies spanning the period 1946鈥�2013. We show that a minority group鈥檚 population share has no relation with its absolute representation in the national executive under PR but has an inverted-U shaped relation under MR. The pattern is stable over time and robust to alternate speci铿乧ations. The developmental outcomes for a group proxied using stable nightlight emissions in a group鈥檚 settlement area follow the same pattern. We reproduce the main results by two separate identi铿乧ation strategies鈥�(i) instrumenting colony鈥檚 voting system by that of the primary colonial ruler and, (ii) comparing the same ethnicity across countries within a continent. We argue that existing theoretical framework with a two group set up is not able to explain this pattern. Our proposed model incorporates the spatial distribution of multiple minority groups in a probabilistic voting model and justi铿乪s these patterns as equilibrium behavior. The data further validate a critical assumption of the model and its additional comparative static results. Our work highlights that electoral systems can have importante铿�ectsonpowerinequalityacrossminorities, andconsequently, theirwell-being.