Ethnic Diversity and Democratic Stability: The Case of Irish Americans

Abstract

Sustaining a stable political system in a multiethnic society while remaining committed to democratic norms is a problem. The difficulty lies in the fact that ethnic groups tend not to get along. This may be a rather simplistic way of stating the problem of ethnic conflict, but history has a way of proving its basic validity with depressing frequency. Incorporating several ethnic groups into a single political system means incorporating the basic problem of ethnic conflict as well, and this can place considerable strain on the political system in question. Such a system carries the seeds of instability within its constituent parts, and unless it can control the potential for ethnic conflict dwelling within it, such a system will fly apart. A commitment to democratic norms can be a liability for this kind of political system. Group loyalties dividing a multiethnic society can undermine a common identity, national culture, or consensus on democratic values. The intensity often characterizing ethnic confrontations can make political compromise impossible, and the discrimination often practiced by dominant groups to perpetuate group inequalities can spark violent, destabilizing confrontations. Conventional wisdom claims that often the only way to unite diverse ethnic groups into a single political system is through coercion. Like the Soviet Union or Marshal Tito's Yugoslavia, a stable political order must be imposed from above. Indeed, the historical record for ethnically diverse democracies is weak; multiethnic states have traditionally required force to hold them together. ' At best, those wishing to unite diverse