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This discussion of the politics of minorities, race and opposition suggests that there is a fault-line that cuts through attempts to construct a South African nationalism in the post-transition period. Minorities are not defined in terms of race. Instead culture, tradition, religion and language are used to identify different groups in the society who all have equal status. This conflicts with the conception of minorities in the realm of politics where electorally-determined smaller parties do not have the same status as the majority party. More importantly, democratic minorities are excluded from participating in the governing of the country thereby preventing minority interests from registering an impact on national policy. It is possible, using ideas present in Hegel's political philosophy and the theory of rational choice, to reconcile the politics of 'cultural' and 'political' minorities. This means that opposition in the context of South Africa should not take an adversarial form. Instead, both the majority and minority parties can benefit by adopting a co-operative rather than a conflictual mode of political conduct. (Democratization - www.frankcass.com/DÜI)

The Minorities question is currently a hot issue in Europe. But what are the concerned minorities and to which of them should the existing – national and international – legal instruments apply? Amongst the States of the New Europe, Latvia, with its important immigrant population, offers a striking example of the current minority problematics. The study of this Baltic country reveals the main issues about this question and shows why there are currently reasons to broaden the traditional concept of national minorities. I also shows how some countries have undertaken to instrumentalize this trend to turn "their" minorities in neighbouring states into political instruments. ; La question des minorités et de leur protection est aujourd'hui un thème brûlant en Europe. Mais de quelles minorités parle-t-on et à lesquelles d'entre elles doivent s'appliquer les nombreux instruments juridiques – nationaux et internationaux – développés au cours de ces dernières décennies ? Parmi les États de la "nouvelle Europe", la Lettonie offre un exemple éclairant de la problématique minoritaire actuelle. L'étude de ce pays permet de mettre en relief les principaux problèmes rencontrés et notamment de faire apparaître pourquoi la tendance actuelle consiste à étendre la portée du concept de "minorité nationale". Si des raisons objectives militent en ce sens, une analyse objective de la situation montre que certains États s'efforcent aussi de transformer "leurs" minorités dans des États voisins en instruments politiques.

Front Cover -- Title Page -- Contents -- Introduction -- Viewpoint 1: Prison's Dilemma -- Viewpoint 2: The Criminal Justice System Is Not Unfair to Minorities -- A Perception of Bias -- A Manufactured Problem -- Viewpoint 3: The War on Marijuana in Black and White -- The War on Drugs -- A War on People of Color -- The Enforcement of Marijuana Laws -- The Need for Marijuana Legalization -- Viewpoint 4: The Policy of Stop-and-Frisk Targets Young Men of Color -- The Growth in Stop-and-Frisk -- The Use of Street Stops -- The Call-In Approach -- Other Needed Reforms -- Viewpoint 5: Stop-and-Frisk Protects Minorities -- Viewpoint 6: Minimum-Wage Madness -- Viewpoint 7: A Higher Minimum Wage Will Not Hurt Minorities or Eliminate Jobs -- The Facts About Minimum-Wage Workers -- The Fantasy About Minimum-Wage Workers -- The Myths About the Minimum Wage -- The Effects of Raising the Minimum Wage -- Viewpoint 8: Opposition to Voter ID Laws Is Insulting to Minorities -- The Controversy over Voter-ID Laws -- The Charge of Racism -- An Insult to Minorities -- Viewpoint 9: Voter ID Laws Disenfranchise Minority Voters -- The Concern About Fraud -- Adults Who Lack ID -- The Charge of Racism -- The Barriers to Getting ID -- A Real Solution -- Viewpoint 10: The US Supreme Court Erred in Revising the Voting Rights Act -- The Voting Rights Act -- The Decision of the Court -- The Winners of the Ruling -- The Losers of the Ruling -- A Weakening of Rights -- Viewpoint 11: The US Supreme Court Was Correct to Revise the Voting Rights Act -- The Need for Extraordinary Measures -- Evidence of Discrimination -- Concerns About Section 5 -- The Need for Congressional Action -- A Justified Decision -- Viewpoint 12: Where Do Americans Stand on Affirmative Action? -- Viewpoint 13: Do Race Preferences Help Students? -- Viewpoint 14: The Next Affirmative Action

Superdiversity is an interesting concept that needs to be incorporated into the field of legal sciences. A comparative analysis of the European Constitutions shows that constitutional references to culturally based minorities reflect the particular political context of each country, although there is a correspondence between the categories generally employed in comparative constitutional law and those in common use in international institutions. In addition to the cultural elements that characterise minorities (language, ethnicity, religion, nationality), other identity factors such as sex (gender), physical appearance (phenotype), opinions or convictions and social or economic status are generally included in anti-discrimination provisions. However, other elements that are relevant to the idea of superdiversity, such as place of residence within an urban environment and employment status, hardly appear in the European constitutional texts. If superdiversity is implemented without calibrating it to each context it may pose a threat to the fair and appropriate treatment of traditional minorities.

Intro -- WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN BUSINESS: DEMOGRAPHIC REVIEWS OF BUSINESS OWNERSHIP -- WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN BUSINESS: DEMOGRAPHIC REVIEWS OF BUSINESS OWNERSHIP -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter 1 MINORITIES IN BUSINESS: A DEMOGRAPHIC REVIEW OF MINORITY BUSINESS OWNERSHIP* -- Highlights -- Scope and Methodology -- Ordering Information -- Foreword -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Characteristics of Minority-owned Businesses -- 2.1. Gender, Race, and Ethnicity of Minority-owned Businesses -- 2.2. Number, Receipts, Employment, and Annual Payroll of Minority-owned Firms -- 2.3. The Sizes of Minority-owned Businesses -- 2.4. The Industry Divisions of Minority-Owned Businesses -- 2.5. Ethnicity of Asian- and Hispanic-Owned Firms -- 2.6. Home-Based Businesses -- 2.7. Minority-owned Firm Finance -- 2.8. The Growth of Minority-owned Business -- 3. Demographic Characteristics of Minority Business Owners -- 3.1. The Minority Population and Their Human Capital -- 3.2. The Minority Labor Force, Self-Employed, Professionals, and Moonlighters -- 3.3. Veteran Business Owners and Minority Veterans -- 4. Business Density -- 5. Conclusion -- Appendix A: Tables -- Appendix B: Comparability of Minority Business Owner Survey, 1997 and 200212 -- Appendix C: Sources of the Data, Sampling and Estimation Methodologies -- Industry Classification of Firms -- Sampling -- Treatment of Nonresponse -- Tabulation -- End Notes -- Chapter 2 WOMEN IN BUSINESS: A DEMOGRAPHIC REVIEW OF WOMEN'S BUSINESS OWNERSHIP* -- Highlights -- Scope and Methodology -- Ordering Information -- Foreword -- Executive Summary -- Demographics -- Women-Owned Businesses -- Women-Owned Business Dynamics -- Introduction -- Demographic Characteristics of Women in the Population and Labor Force -- Women-Owned Businesses -- Race/Ethnicity of Women Business Owners -- Size of Firm -- Industries

Recently, F. Rosen has reminded us that, although Bentham was one of the greatest advocates of democracy, he never thought democracy should be government by the people. As a democrat, all his efforts were limited to the feasible, to reducing the harm caused bay "sinister interests", resulting form government by the "ruling few". John Stuart Mill accepts this idea of inevitability of minorities in politics and he went further than Bentham with his argument, in favour of a limitation of the suffrage. Mill had already put forward, in general, a vindication of minorities in fields such as society, morality, religion, art, sexual freedom. He summed up that attitude in On Liberty, in his legitimation of that extreme minority, the individual, where he upheld the importance of respect for eccentricity. The respect for individuality was already presente in Bentham (the defence of homosexuality, for example), but his enthusias for the objectivity of the rational prevented him from reaching Mill's much more coherent conclusions. The examination of their different attitudes enables us to consider the value of an active role for minorities in society, a role that must be closely controlled when it leads them to the exercise of political power. ; Recientemente, Fred Rosen nos ha recordado que, aunque Bentham fue uno de los grandes defensores de la democracia, él nunca pensó que la Democracia debiera ser el gobierno del pueblo. Como demócrata todos sus esfuerzos se limitaron a lo accesible, a reducir el daño causado por los "intereses siniestros" que proceden del poder de los pocos que gobiernan. John Stuart Mill acepta esta idea de la inevitabilidad de las minorías en la política y va más allá que Bentham con su argumento a favor de una limitación del sufragio. Mill ya había sostenido una defensa de las minorías en dominios como la sociedad, la moralidad, la religión, el arte o la libertad sexual. Resumió esta posición en On Liberty con su legitimación de la minoría extrema, el individuo, en la que sustentó la importancia del respeto por la excentricidad. El respeto por la individualidad siempre estuvo presente en Bentham (la defensa de la homosexualidad, por ejemplo), pero su entusiasmo por la objetividad de lo racional evitó que llegara a las mismas conclusiones mucho más coherentes de Mill. El examen de sus diferentes actitudes nos permite considerar el valor de un papel activo para las minorías dentro de la sociedad, un papel que debe estar estrechamente controlado cuando las conduce al ejercicio del poder político. ; This paper has been developed inside a research project supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education.

Modern direct democracy has become an essential element of political life in many countries in Europe and worldwide. The initiative and referendum process offers extra channels for citizen participation and thus represents an important supplementary institution in modern democracies. This third volume of the series Direct Democracy in Modern Europe focuses on direct-democratic decisions on minority affairs. The main question is whether direct democracy tends towards a domination of the majority over a minority, producing new conflicts, or whether, how, and under what conditions it helps to solve problems in complex societies and leads to lasting solutions to political disputes. This volume includes articles by specialist researchers on - historical experiences of direct-democratic decisions on territorial conflicts; - theoretical considerations on direct democracy and minorities; - case studies on popular votes concerning minority issues; - several country case studies; - the role of the media in direct-democratic campaigns on minority affairs; - the potential of transnational direct democracy.

This article discusses the retreat from multiculturalism in Europe. It questions whether the crisis of multiculturalism has had any impact on the accommodation of national minorities and/or ethnic groups. It opens with an interview with the former OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, which is followed by commentaries of four leading scholars: Will Kymlicka, Keith Banting, Tariq Modood and Jennifer Jackson-Preece. Ambassador Vollebaek argues that the crisis of multiculturalism only affects immigrants, and although the rights of national minorities are well protected, it may eventually undermine these rights. In their commentary, Kymlicka and Banting disagree with the view that the backlash against immigration threatens the rights of national minorities. Ambassador Vollebaek also supports the view that more inclusive policies targeting the members of minority groups are necessary. Modood and Jackson-Preece agree, and in their responses discuss how current arrangements could be modified or expanded to become more inclusive.

The paper studies a simple voting system that can increase the power of minorities without sacrificing aggregate efficiency or treating voters asymmetrically. Storable votes grant each voter a stock of votes to spend as desired over a series of binary decisions and thus elicit voters strength of preferences. The potential of the mechanism is particularly clear in the presence of systematic minorities: by accumulating votes on issues that it deems most important, the minority can win occasionally. But because the majority typically can outvote it, the minority wins only if its strength of preference is high and the majority's strength of preference is low. The result is that the minority's preferences are represented, while aggregate efficiency either falls little or in fact rises, relative to simple majority voting. The theoretical predictions of our model are confirmed by a series of experiments: the frequency of minority victories, the relative payoff of the minority versus the majority, and the aggregate payoffs all match the theory. Adapted from the source document.