1. Social and economic cleavages often divide society and can have both positive and negative political consequences. a. Identify one social cleavage and one economic cleavage that commonly occur in societies. One social cleavage commonly seen in society is ethnic divisions. People will stay with their ethnic groups. One economic cleavage us the rich and poor cleavage. b. Explain how leaders can use cleavages to strengthen a government’s hold on power. Leader's can appeal the majority cleavage groups, such as those of a certain ethnicity, to get the people to support them. They can also give rights to more minority groups to garner their support, but also maintain the support of the majority. c. Explain how cleavages can undermine regime stability. Cleavages can keep the people divided. Certain people from certain groups may not trust other people that may cleave differently. d. Describe one action governments take to address the negative consequences of the social cleavage identified in (a). In the UK there are ethnic differences, and the government in the modern era has tried to devolve the power and allow for more representation from Scottish, Welsh and Irish minorities. e. Describe a different action governments take to address the negative consequences of the economic cleavage identified in (a). One action that governments can take to adress the consequences of the rich and poor cleavage is to add tax that take more from the rich as opposed to taking more from the poor. 2. Ethnicity plays a role in politics in Mexico and Nigeria. (a) Describe a significant ethnic division in Mexico. One significant ethnic division in Mexico is the division between the indigenous populations and the whites and mezitos. (b) Identify an ethnic movement that emerged in Mexico after 1990 and explain one reason why the movement arose. One ethnic movement that arose in Mexico after 1990 was the Zapatista movement, which sought to expand rights for indigenous Mexicans. It rose initially to instigate a revolution against the rise of neoliberalism in Mexico. (c) Describe a significant ethnic division in Nigeria. One significant ethnic division in Nigeria is the division amongst all the ethnic groups - there are 250 different recognized groups. (d) Identify an ethnic movement that emerged in Nigeria after 1990 and explain one reason why the movement arose. One ethnic movement that emerged in Nigeria after 1990 was the Boko Haram group , which was founded in 2002. This movement was founded seeking to establish an Islamic state and oppose Western education. (e) Explain one reason why ethnicity has played a more significant role in Nigerian than in Mexican politics. Ethnicity has been more significant in Nigeria than in Mexico due to the greater number of divisions Nigeria. The more ethnic groups, the more divisions and dividers.