Do the Buses Run on Time? Local Government and Public Goods Provision in Jordan

Diversity has been blamed for poor public goods provision in a number of different contexts. It is associated with reduced spending on services, meager rates of tax collection, and poor policies. At the same time, recent research has indicated that only certain types of diversity are associated with poor services and that in some cases diversity can actually improve service provision. I argue in this paper that the relationship between the groups themselves is essential for understanding diversity’s impact on public goods provision. When relations are poor, public goods provision suffers; but this is not true for diverse groups everywhere. Through focusing on the case study of Jordan where tribes have relations characterized by mutual respect, I show that tribal diversity does not lead to poor service provision. I also argue that tribal cohesion is important in understanding the impact of tribal diversity on public goods provision — when tribes are cohesive, increasing diversity can positively impact service provision as it introduces greater electoral competition amongst candidates for the municipal council.