Explores the political impacts of ethnic diversity and the growth of the middle class in urban Africa.

Noah L. Nathan is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has conducted extended field research on electoral politics in Africa, especially in Ghana.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Urban politics in a trap; 2. Urban Ghana in context; Part II. The Middle Class and Programmatic Politics: 3. Class and preferences; 4. Credibility, patronage, and participation; Part III. Neighborhoods and Ethnic Competition: 5. Ethnic competition across neighborhoods; 6. Distributive politics in urban areas; 7. Neighborhood context, expectations of favoritism, and voting; Part IV. Implications for Urban Governance; 8. Turnout inequality and capture in municipal elections; 9. Paths out of the trap?; Bibliography; Index.