Ethnopolitical Parties and Development Cooperation

Abstract

What are the effects of ethnopolitical cleavages within the state on its foreign policy? This question has not received much attention in the literature. The coalition participation of ethnopolitical parties in Belgium offers a unique opportunity to empirically evaluate the implications of ethnic politics for a state's foreign policy. Twice, nationalist politicians held the post of minister of development cooperation. The rhetoric and policy behavior of these individuals is compared with that of a “mainstream” minister of development cooperation. The article derives its expectations from the literatures on foreign assistance donor motivation, national identity, consociationalism, and coalition theory. The findings suggest that there is no statistically significant difference between nationalist and mainstream ministers of development cooperation. A potential explanation for this finding is advanced.