This panel focuses on the political sources of solidarity in diverse societies. It seeks to identify the kinds of political institutions, political identities and policies that help sustain and enhance solidarity. Considerable research has been devoted to the economic and social factors which influence the willingness of the public to accept and support newcomers and minorities. While perceptions of economic threat and patterns of interethnic contact matter, so too do political institutions, political identities (national narratives, stories of peoplehood), and policy regimes (citizenship/integration regimes, structure of the welfare state, quality of government). However, the impact of these political factors is contested. Does nation-building promote or erode solidarity under conditions of diversity? Do multiculturalism policies promote or erode solidarity? Does easy access to citizenship or to the welfare state for immigrants and refugees promote or erode solidarity? This then is our initial motivating question: What types of political institutions, policies and discourses serve to sustain or to erode solidarity in contexts of diversity? In answering this question, we focus primarily on European experience.