Full Description
This Commentary provides the reader with a review of international standards and practice relating to the political participation of minorities. Political participation has been increasingly recognized as a foundational issue in the debate about minority rights. It is argued that minorities are more likely to feel co-ownership in the state if they have the opportunity to participate freely and effectively in all aspects of its governance, and that sustained and meaningful engagement will guard against the sense of alienation and exclusion among minorities that often emerges in ethnically divided societies.
Taking as its starting point the two most important standard-setting documents in the field - the Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life, developed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Council of Europe's Thematic Commentary on the Issue of Political Participation of Minorities - the Commentary locates the international legal entitlement to political participation within the wider context of the right to democratic governance. It also considers effective participation in relation to the right to full and effective equality, as well as the legal entrenchment of these provisions and implementation mechanisms. Individual chapters then consider each of the principal mechanisms aimed at enhancing political participation, ranging from procedures covering minority representation in political institutions to consultative mechanisms and autonomy solutions.
The Commentary draws on a team of experts, all of whom are recognized authorities in this specialized area of minority issues.
Contents
INTRODUCTION ; Democratic governance and minority political participation: Emerging legal standards and practice ; GENERAL ISSUES ; 1. Ethnic Diversity, Political Exclusion and Armed Conflict: A quantitative analysis of a global dataset ; 2. Ethnic Domination in Democracies ; 3. Understanding Minority Participation and Representation and the Issue of Citizenship ; 4. The Principles of Non-discrimination and Full and Effective Equality and Political Participation ; 5. Gendering Minority Participation in Public Life ; 6. Minorities, Political Participation, and Democratic Governance under the European Convention on Human Rights ; 7. The Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities and the Advisory Committee's Thematic Commentary on Effective Participation ; 8. OSCE Lund Recommendations in the Practice of the High Commissioner on National Minorities ; 9. Effective Participation by Minorities: UN Standards and Practice ; 10. Political Participation Systems Applicable to Indigenous Peoples ; 11. UNIVERSAL AND EUROPEAN STANDARDS OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF MINORITIES ; 12. Electoral Systems and the Lund Recommendations ; 13. Making Effective Use of Parliamentary Representation ; 14. Power-sharing at the Government Level ; 15. At the Heart of Participation and its Dilemmas: Minorities in the executive structures ; 16. Political Participation and Power-sharing in Ethnic Peace Settlements ; IV: CONSULTATION AND SPECIAL ISSUE PARTICIPATION ; 17. Minority Consultative Mechanisms: Towards Best Practice ; 18. Special Contact Mechanisms for Roma ; 19. Participation in Social and Economic Life ; 20. International Benchmarks: A review of minority participation in the judiciary ; V: MINORITY SELF-GOVERNANCE ; 21. Participation as Self-governance ; 22. Cultural Minority Self-governance ; 23. Enhanced Local Self-government as a Means of Enhancing Minority Governance ; 24. Minority Associations: Issues of representation, internal democracy and legitimacy ; PART VI: IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ; 25. Minority Participation in Bilateral and International Reporting and Monitoring Processes ; 26. Legal Entrenchment and Implementation Mechanisms
