''Ethnic party is defined here as an organization authorized to compete in local or national elections; the majority of its leadership and membership identify themselves as belonging to a nondominant ethnic group, and its electoral platform includes demands and programs of an ethnic or cultural nature.〔Donna Lee Van Cott, “Institutional Change and Ethnic Parties in South America.” Latin American Politics and Society 45, 2 (summer 2003): 1-39 ((abstract ))〕〔Donna Lee Van Cott, From Movements to Parties in Latin America. The Evolution of Ethnic Politics, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2005 ISBN 978-0-521-85502-0 ((Introduction ))〕''

''An ethnic party is a party that overtly represents itself as a champion of the cause of one particular ethnic category or set of categories to the exclusion of others, and that makes such a representation central to its strategy of mobilizing voters.〔Kanchan Chandra, Why Ethnic Parties Succeed: Patronage and Ethnic Head Counts in India, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004 ISBN 978-0-521-89141-7 ((excerpt ))〕''