Ethnicity and Elections: Electoral Context Affects Parties' Use of Ethnic References

Abstract Links to specific ethnic groups constitute a defining feature of ethnic parties. Yet, whether and how references to ethnic identities appear in ethnic parties' political communication often remains unstudied despite the promise it carries. This paper investigates to what extent the electoral cycle and ethnic competition influence ethnic parties' usage of ethnic references on social media. Analyzing 1.3 million social media posts by 112 ethnic parties in 38 countries, we find that the number of ethnic references by a party increases as election day approaches. Moreover, a higher number of competing ethnic parties in elections is also associated with higher usage of ethnic references. This research contributes to our understanding of when and why parties address ethnicity on social media.