How do attempts to politically mobilize support on the basis of ethnicity resonate with the people targeted? This paper develops theory about the affinities between institutionalized political orientations—how individuals understand their place in political processes and how they make decisions about political issues—and the ways that ethnic appeals may make sense to people. By focusing on institutionalized orientations as a form of consciousness, this theory enables analysis of how orientations of different segments of a polity facilitate the resonance of ethnic appeals and relate to one another, which holds implications for attempts to counter ethnic mobilization. The paper applies this theory to Fiji, a country that has experienced divisive ethnic politics and attempts to forge alternate models of national unity. Based on in-depth interviews with a sample of citizens from across Fiji, I conclude that distinct political orientations characterize different parts of the population and find within-orientation differences between those who understand political developments in more ethnic terms and those who do not. Using this evidence, I draw implications about the types of changes that might transform the resonance of ethnic mobilization in Fiji.