makes redistribution to the poor, who are disproportionately black, unappealing to many
voters” and since Europe was much less diverse, the communal bonds were strong
enough to develop an extensive welfare state. Recently, Alesina and Glaeser (2004) have
been even more explicit in arguing that racial diversity is negatively related to public
generosity. People are more likely to support welfare if they see it received by people of
their own race, but are less supportive if they see it received by people from another race.
Peter Lindert, makes a similar argument, although coming from the opposite
direction. He argues that the stronger “social affinity” there is, the more willing people
are to pay higher taxes to fund social protection schemes. “The more a middle-income
voter looks at the likely recipients of public aid and says, “that could be me” (or my
daughter, or my whole family), the greater that voter’s willingness to vote for taxes and
fund such aid”. He goes on to explain that such social affinity would be fostered by
ethnic homogeneity between middle class voters and the perceived recipients. However,
“…ethnic divisions would create suspicions that taxpayer’s money would be turned over
to ‘them’” (Lindert 2004, 187). Race and ethnicity also seem to drive public policy
outcomes. Hero and Tolbert (1996) find that lower education and public policy outcomes
in the States of the United States are driven by ethnic and racial diversity and McCarty
(1993) finds that ethnic diversity discourages transfer payments by central governments.
The question of “who belongs” becomes critical when distributional issues arise.
Societal homogeneity, according to many observers, is crucial because the sacrifice to
give up part of your income is more easily made if the benefits go to someone who looks
and behaves like you, hence the title of this essay. In order for the welfare state to
function, so the argument goes, requires a certain amount of fellow feeling, a caring
about other people’s life chances and a sense of belonging to a community of fate. It is
Convention