Suchergebnisse

This collection of original essays breaks new ground by examining the dynamics of ethnic politics at the local level, rather than following in the footsteps of many previous studies which focus on the macropolitical level of states and nations.

"This book argues that protest by ethnic Hungarians in Romania and Slovakia brought about policy changes and integrated Hungarian minorities into the democratic process. Ethnic protest allowed groups to learn about the nature and limits of each other's claims, facilitating new democratic institutions"--

AbstractRecent political events have forced an examination of ideologies of populism and nationalism in politics. In this piece, I examine literature on the post-2016 political context to illustrate why the rise of identity-based politics has surprised analysts. An understanding of identity-based parties requires a focus on both theformsby which they navigate electoral and party systems, and thecontentof their rhetorical appeals to publics. I consider the electoral and party systems literature, and indicate some reasons that majoritarian electoral systems are more likely to foster the dominance of identity-based politics. In such systems, large parties might become weaponized by extremist elements, and lack the potential for checks from new parties. In addition, presidential systems lack a mechanism for no confidence votes, and might also have weak checks on an extremist executive. In terms of content, populism and nationalism might draw differing boundaries to include or exclude perceived elites. However, they can otherwise align in terms of their stances against "Others," and against individualistic or technocratic stances that may fall under the label of "liberalism." Nationalism and populism are not simply ideologies, but can be used as strategies by elites who can successfully deploy these mobilizing rhetorical appeals.

Both Bosnia in 1995 and Northern Ireland in 1998 were extremely fragile in the immediate aftermath of brokered peace negotiations. Each instituted a form of consociationalism—a government that institutionalizes a voice for each ethnic group—as an element of brokered peace. In this article, I examine Bosnian postwar governance with comparative insights from Northern Ireland. Bosnia was the recipient of a large amount of international aid. While this aid was crucial to the initial state-building effort, the problems Bosnia now faces are due to its consociational governance structure. Some of the group-based aspects of consociationalism are in tension with individual rights, a problem that cannot be addressed by aid alone.

When and where might ethnic party outbidding occur? This article examines potential outbidding dynamics via a study of local elections in Romania, where the dominant Hungarian UDMR/RMDSz (Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania) was recently challenged by a rival party, the MPP (Hungarian Citizens' Party). A comparison of election results is made across cities and counties that differ according to demographic characteristics. Two primary findings emerge. First, Hungarian unity in the form of the RMDSz remained strong except under enclave conditions — where the ethnic minority is the local majority. Outbidding is more likely to be a luxury of enclave regions, where fragmentation will not involve a loss of power to another ethnic group, as could happen to a local minority or with 'split' demographics. Second, when majority-minority demographics are clear, cross-ethnic formal or informal coalitions are more likely to emerge. Cross-ethnic coalitions are rare under conditions of 'split' demographics, which exhibit a logic of ethnic polarization.