Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T04:33:54.209Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Diversity recognition and minority representation in Central and Southeast Europe: a comparative analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

István Gergőo Székely  and
István Horváth
István Gergőo Székely*
Affiliation:
Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities, Cluj, Romania
István Horváth
Affiliation:
Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities, Cluj, Romania
*
∗Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The need to handle ethnocultural diversity and the external pressures of Euro-Atlantic integration have led to the development of complex minority rights regimes in Central and Southeast European states. The aim of this paper is to perform a comparative analysis of the political representation dimension of these regimes, and to investigate how the regulations in this domain are related to the more general attitude of states toward diversity recognition and registration. For this purpose, we classify the states according to a series of variables concerning the manner in which ethnocultural diversity is recognized and portrayed, as well as the regulations concerning the representation of minorities, and identify patterns of their incidence. The formal-legal analysis of the constitutions, minority protection laws and of the electoral legislation of the included countries reveals a clear connection between the general attitude of the state toward diversity and the incidence of autonomies, and a less unequivocal, yet strong relationship in the case of minority representation in the national polity.

Keywords

minority rights regimesdiversity recognitionminority representationautonomy
Type
Research Article
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , May 2014 , pp. 426 - 448
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

An earlier draft of this paper has been presented at the 6th ECPR General Conference, 25–27 August 2011, Reykjavik, Iceland (Section 43 – Themes and Challenges to Multi-Level and Regional Politics, Panel 313 – Minority Politics within the Europe of Regions).

References

Alionescu, Ciprian-Călin. 2004. “Parliamentary Representation of Minorities in Romania.” Southeast European Politics 5 (1): 60–75.Google Scholar
Almairac, Laure. 2006. “Turkey: A Minority Policy of Systematic Negation (Report).” Vienna: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.Google Scholar
Atikcan, Ece Ozlem. 2010. “European Union and Minorities: Different Paths of Europeanization?” Journal of European Integration 32 (4): 375–392.Google Scholar
Bartolini, Stefano. 1999. “Collusion, Competition and Democracy Part I.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 11 (4): 435–470.Google Scholar
Bartolini, Stefano. 2000. “Collusion, Competition and Democracy Part II.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 12 (1): 33–65.Google Scholar
Bieber, Florianand Wolff, Stefan, eds. 2007. The Ethnopolitics of Elections. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bird, Karen. 2013. “Comparing Ethnic Quotas and Ethnic Representation Worldwide.” Paper presented at the SCOPES Conference “Ethno-democracy in the heart of Europe: Political mobilization and representation of ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina in a comparative perspective.” Sarajevo, September 23–24, 2013.Google Scholar
Bochsler, Daniel. 2006. “Large-N QCA or Logistic Regression? A Methodological Experiment to Explain Formation of Ethnic Minority Parties.” Paper presented at the 1st ECPR Graduate Conference, Essex, September 7–9.Google Scholar
Bochsler, Daniel. 2010. “Electoral Rules and the Representation of Ethnic Minorities in Post-Communist Democracies.” European Yearbook of Minority Issues 7: 153–180. http://www.eurac.edu/en/research/institutes/imr/activities/Bookseries/Documents/European%20Yearbook%20of%20Minority%20Issues%207%20-%20table%20of%20contents.pdf Google Scholar
Brubaker, Rogers. 1994. “Nationhood and the National Question in the Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Eurasia: An Institutionalist Account.” Theory and Society 23 (1): 47–78.Google Scholar
Çelik, Ayşe Betül and Rumelili, Bahar. 2006. “Necessary but Not Sufficient: The Role of the EU in Resolving Turkey's Kurdish Question and the Greek-Turkish Conflicts.” European Foreign Affairs Review 11 (2): 203–222.Google Scholar
Chukov, Vladimir. 2001 The Movement for Rights and Freedoms. Turk Flagman of Bulgarian Post-Totalitarian Liberalism. Sofia: Center for Regional and Confessional Studies. http://crcs0.tripod.com/mrfvlad.html Google Scholar
Daskalovski, Zhidas. 2004. “Democratic Consolidation and the ‘Stateness’ Problem: The Case of Macedonia.” The Global Review of Ethnopolitics 3 (2): 52–66.Google Scholar
Dobos, Balázs. 2007. “The Development and Functioning of Cultural Autonomy in Hungary.” Ethnopolitics 6 (3): 451–469.Google Scholar
Eiler, Ferenc and Kovács, Nóra. 2000. “A kisebbségi önkormányzatok rendszere Magyarországon.” Regio 11 (3): 81–112.Google Scholar
Frowein, Jochen Abr and Bank, Roland. 2001. “The Participation of Minorities in Decision-Making Processes.” Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht – Heidelberg Journal of International Law 61: 1–28. http://www.zaoerv.de/61_2001/vol61.cfm Google Scholar
Gelazis, Nida M., 2004. “The European Union and the Statelessness Problem in the Baltic States.” European Journal of Migration and Law, 6 (3): 225–242.Google Scholar
Hadden, Tom. 2005. “Integration and Autonomy: Minority Rights and Political Accommodation.” In Power Sharing. New Challenges for Divided Societies, edited by Ian O'Flynn and David Russell, 30–44. London: Pluto Press.Google Scholar
Hajdinjak, Marko. 2008. “Thou Shalt Not Take the Names Ethnic or Minority, And I Will Bless Thee: Political Participation of Minorities in Bulgaria.” In Political Parties and Minority Participation, 87–125. Skopje: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Macedonia.Google Scholar
Halász, Iván. 2007. “Nemzeti és etnikai kisebbségek és a kisebbségi jogi szabályozások Közép-Európában.” Kisebbségkutatás 16 (3): 563–585.Google Scholar
Horváth, István. 2001. “Facilitating Conflict Transformation: Implementation of the Recommendations of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities to Romania, 1993–2001.” Working paper 8. Hamburg: Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg.Google Scholar
Htun, Mala. 2004. “Is Gender Like Ethnicity? The Political Representation of Identity Groups.” Perspectives on Politics 2 (3): 439–458.Google Scholar
Kelley, Judith G., 2004. Ethnic Politics in Europe: The Power of Norms and Incentives. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Komac, Miran. 2002. “The Protection of Ethnic Minorities in the Republic of Slovenia.” In Slovenia & The European Standards for the Protection of National Minorities, edited by Miroslav Polzer, Liana Kalčina, and Mitja Zagar, 13–66. Ljubljana: Information and Documentation Centre on the Council of Europe – Institute for Ethnic Studies – Austrian Institute of East and Southeast European Studies.Google Scholar
Korhecz, Tamás. 2002. “Democratic Legitimacy and Election Rules of National Ethnic Minority Bodies and Representatives-Reflections on Legal Solutions in Hungary and Slovenia.” International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 9 (2): 161–181.Google Scholar
Korhecz, Tamás. 2010. “Magyar autonomia Szerbiában. A programcéltól a hatályos törvényig.” Pro Minoritate 20 (1): 67–73.Google Scholar
Markusse, Jan D., 2007. “Are National Minorities in the EU Progressing towards the Acquisition of Universal Rights?” Environment and Planning A 39 (7): 1601–1617.Google Scholar
McGarry, John and O'Leary, Brendan. 1993. “Introduction: The Macro-Political Regulation of Ethnic Conflict.” In The Politics of Ethnic Conflict Regulation: Case Studies of Protracted Ethnic Conflicts, edited by John McGarry and Brendan O'Leary, 1–40. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
McGarry, John, Brendan O'Leary and Simeon, Richard. 2008. “Integration or Accommodation?” In Constitutional Design for Divided Societies: Integration or Accommodation? edited by Sujit Choudhry, 41–88. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Meier, Petra. 2009. “Defining Groups Entitled to Reserved Seats in National Legislatures: A Comparative Approach.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Toronto, September 3–6.Google Scholar
Parekh, Bhikhu. 2002. “Reconstituting the Modern State.” In Transnational Democracy. Political Spaces and Border Crossing, edited by James Anderson, 39–55. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Petričušić, Antonija. 2004a. “Slovenian Legislative System for Minority Protection: Different Rights for Old and New Minorities.” Noves SL – Revista de Sociolingüística 5 (3): 1–9.Google Scholar
Petričušić, Antonija. 2004b. “Wind of Change: the Croatian Government's Turn towards a Policy of Ethnic Reconciliation.” Bolzano – Bozen: EURAC Research, European Diversity and Autonomy Papers – EDAP 6/2004.Google Scholar
Petricusic, Antonija. 2008. “Nation-Building in Croatia and the Treatment of Minorities: Rights and Wrongs.” L'Europe en formation 39 (3–4): 135–145.Google Scholar
Rechel, Bernd. 2009. “Introduction.” In Minority Rights in Central and Eastern Europe, edited by Bernd Rechel, 3–16. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Reynolds, Andrew. 2005. “Reserved Seats in National Legislatures: A Research Note.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 30 (2): 301–310.Google Scholar
Sasse, Gwendolyn. 2009. “Tracing the Construction and Effects of EU Conditionally.” In Minority Rights in Central and Eastern Europe, edited by Bernd Rechel, 17–31. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Schimmelfennig, Frank, Stefan, Engert and Knobel, Heiko. 2003. “Costs, Commitment and Compliance: The Impact of EU Democratic Conditionality on Latvia, Slovakia and Turkey.” JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies 41 (3): 495–518.Google Scholar
Schwellnus, Guido and Schimmelfennig, Frank. 2008. The Adoption, Implementation and Sustainability of Minority Protection Rules in the Context of EU Conditionality. A Comparative Analysis of Ten New Member States in Central and Eastern Europe. Zürich: Research proposal submitted to the SNSF.Google Scholar
Trifunovska, Snežana. 1999. “Minority Rights in Croatia.” International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 6 (4): 463–482.Google Scholar
Vasiljević, Snježana. 2004. “The Legal Aspects of the Protection of Minorities in the Process of Stabilization and Association.” In Croatian Accession to the European Union: Institutional Challenges, edited by Katerina Ott, 249–272. Zagreb: Institute of Public Finance.Google Scholar
Velivasaki, Eleni. 2010. “Accommodating Religious Pluralities: The Case of Greece.” Paper presented at the conference Minority Politics in the Europe of Regions, Cluj, June 17–20.Google Scholar
Venice Commission. 2000. “Electoral Law and National Minorities (CDL-INF (2000) 4).” Strasbourg: Council of Europe.Google Scholar
Venice Commission. 2005. “Report on Electoral Rules and Affirmative Action for National Minorities’ Participation in Decision-Making Process in European Countries (CDL-AD (2005)009-e).” Strasbourg: Council of Europe.Google Scholar
Wolff, Stefan, Houten, Pieter Van, Anghelea, Ana-Maria and Djuric, Ivana. 2008. “Minority Rights in the Western Balkans (Report).” Brussels: European Parliament.Google Scholar