Ahmed Hamza Social Scientist

Ethnic Politics and Democratization

1. Why Do Some Parties Become More Ethnicized While Others Do Not?

This project investigates the conditions under which political parties become more ethnically exclusive. I employ a new continuous measure of party ethnicization to explore its underlying causes. Party ethnicization refers to the degree to which a political party disproportionately represents the interests and identity of a single ethnic group while marginalizing others. This study aims to identify both party-level and system-level factors that influence the ethnicization trajectory of political parties over time.

2. Does Educational Exposure to Historical Injustices Influence Students’ Racial Attitudes?

This project examines whether learning about past instances of racial and ethnic violence affects students’ racial attitudes—and whether these effects vary by racial identity or political ideology. Many countries, including the United States, Turkey, and Rwanda, have experienced episodes of racial or ethnic violence. Drawing on social identity theory and the literature on political socialization, I hypothesize that educational narratives about historical injustices activate group-based identity processes, such as empathy, guilt, or defensiveness, depending on a student’s racial or ideological background