The propositions in this section explain when and why these overwhelmingly politicized populations are likely to organize their struggle along ethnic lines.
Propositions 1–8 explain why voters in patronage democracies should expect elites to favor co-ethnic elites rather than others in the distribution of material benefits.
Proposition 9 explains why voters expect to obtain psychic benefits also from elites from their “own” ethnic group rather than elites with whom they share other bases of group affiliation. Proposition 10 shows how these expectations result in a self-enforcing and reinforcing equilibrium of ethnic favoritism in patronage democracies.