Institutional Foundations of Ethnic Federations

M.Kh. Farukshin

doi:10.17976/jpps/2017.02.07

Institutional Foundations of Ethnic Federations

Farukshin M.Kh.,

Dr. Sci. (Philos.), Professor, Department of Political Science, Kazan Federal University, Midkhat.Farukshin@ksu.ru

elibrary_id: 106738 |

DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2017.02.07

Rubric: Theory and Methodology of Political Studies

For citation:

Farukshin M.Kh. Institutional Foundations of Ethnic Federations. – Polis. Political Studies. 2017. No. 2. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2017.02.07

Abstract

The main topic of the article is analysis of institutional foundations of the ethnic federations. Special attention is paid to consideration of the two key problems: instrumental role of such federations and political representation of ethnic groups, including ethnic minorities. It is underlined that ethnic federations can play positive role and at the same time they don’t exclude the risk of destabilization and separatism. From the positive side, these federations provide for ethnic groups an opportunity for realization of their right for self-determination up to creation of their own state or political autonomy within the framework of a single state. Ethnic federations also broaden the opportunities for protection of culture, language, traditions and identity of ethnic minorities. Often ethnic federations are considered as a device for settling of ethnic conflicts, overcoming of separatism and for social integration. As the international experience shows, ethnofederalism serves as a means for securing territorial integrity of states. Ethnicity itself does not have any political content but can be used for political aims. From the negative side, a political autonomy of federal subunits can be used by ethnic political elites for ethnic mobilization in order to provide their mercenary interests not rarely connected with secession. Ethnic federations are often unstable. From the contradictory interaction of two general principles of international law – territorial integrity of states and right of nations for self-determination, a necessity follows to differentiate an estimate of secession and separatism. The author criticizes those scholars who ascribe to ethnic federations shortcomings not emanating from the objective nature of those federations. For an obvious reason political representation of ethnic groups has both moral and political meaning. It provides social integration of ethnic groups and political stability of foundations of society and state. Representation is conducive to overcoming of ethnic minorities’ estrangement. It is a condition for reduction of intensity of the ethnic conflict. The author shows different means for providing political representation: proportionality, parity, quota, reserving and some others.

Keywords

ethnic federation; ethnofederalism; institution; ethnic group; political representation; ethnic minority; right for self-determination; ethnic conflict.

Full Text

References

Alonso S., Ruiz-Ruf ino R. Political Representation and Ethnic Conf lict in New Democracies. – European Journal of Political Research. 2007. Vol. 46. No. 2. P. 237-267. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2007.00693.x

Bakke K.M., Cao X., O’ Loughlin J., Ward M.D. 2009 Social Distance in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the North Caucasus Region of Russia: Inter and Intra-Ethnic Attitudes and Identities. – Nations and Nationalism. Vol. 15. No. 2. P. 227-253. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8129.2009.00363.x

Basta K. The State as a Symbol or a Means to an End: Internal Border Changes in Multinational Federations. – Nations and Nationalism. 2014. Vol. 20. No. 3. P. 459-480. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12050

Beland D., Lecours A. Accommodation and the Politics of Fiscal Equalization in Multinational States: The Case of Canada. – Nations and Nationalism. 2014. Vol. 20. No. 2. P. 337-354. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12049

Birnir J.K. Ethnicity and Electoral Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2007. 213 p.

Burgess M. Comparative Federalism. Theory and Practice. N.Y.: Routledge. 2006. 376 р.

Celis K. Visible Ethnic Minorities in Local Political Parties: A Case Study of Two Belgian Cities (Antwerp and Ghent). – Politics. 2013. Vol. 33. No. 3. P. 160-171. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9256.12018

Choudhry S., Perrin B. The Legal Architecture of Intergovernmental Transfers: A Comparative Examination. – Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers: Principles and Practice. Ed. by R. Boadway, A. Shah. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank. 2007. P. 259-292.

Dardanello P., Stojanovic N. The Acid Test? Competing Theses on the Nationality – Democracy Nexus and the Case of Switzerland. – Nations and Nationalism. 2011. Vol. 17. No. 2. P. 357-376. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8129.2010.00453.x

Deiwiks C. The Curse of Ethnofederalism? Ethnic Group Regions, Subnational Boundaries and Secessionist Conflict. ETH Zurich. 2010.

Deklaratsiya o printsipakh mezhdunarodnogo prava, kasayushchikhsya druzhestvennykh otnoshenii i sotrudnichestva mezhdu gosudarstvami v sootvetstvii s Ustavom Organizatsii Ob”edinennykh Natsii [Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations]. – Mezhdunarodnoe pravo v dokumentakh [International Law in Documents]. Moscow: Yuridicheskaya literatura. 1982. 853 p. (In Russ.)

Drobizheva L. Ethnicity in the Modern Society: New Approaches, Old Myths, Social Practices. – Vestnik Instituta Sotziologii. 2010. No. 1. P. 429-442. (In Russ.)

D’yachkov M.V. On the National-territorial, National-state and National-cultural Autonomy. – Sociological Studies. 1993. Vol. 11. P. 99-102. (In Russ.)

Elkins Z., Sides J. Can Institutions Build Unity in Multiethnic States? – American Political Science Review. 2007. Vol. 101. No. 4. P. 693-708. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055407070505

Etnichnost’. Kul’tura. Gosudarstvennost’. Problemy etnicheskogo federalizma v XXI veke [Ethnicity. Culture. Statehood. Problems of Ethnic Federalism in the XXI Century]. Ekaterinburg: Izd-vo UMTs UPI. 2014. 184 p. (In Russ.)

Federalizm: teoriya, instituty, otnosheniya (sravnitel’no-pravovoe issledovanie) [Federalism: Theory, Institutions, Relations (a Comparative-Law Study)]. Moscow: Yurist. 2000. 376 p. (In Russ.)

Filippov V.R. Kritika etnicheskogo federalizma [Critique of the Ethnic Federalism]. Moscow. TsTsRI RAN. 2003. 354 c. (In Russ.)

Forest B. Electoral Redistricting and Minority Political Representation in Canada and the United States. – Canadian Geographer / Le Geographe canadien. 2012. Vol. 56. No. 3. P. 318-338 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ j.1541-0064.2012.00437.x

Goodnow R., Moser R.G. Layers of Ethnicity: The Effects of Ethnic Federalism, Majority-Minority Districts, and Minority Concentration on the Electoral Success of Ethnic Minorities in Russia. – Comparative Political Studies. 2012. Vol. 45. No. 2. P. 167-193. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414011421310

Hale H.E. Divided We Stand. Institutional Sources of Ethnofederal States Survival and Collapse. – World Politics. 2004. Vol. 56. No. 2. P. 165-193. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/wp.2004.0011

Heinemann-Grüder A. Russia’s Ethnofederalism: Under-Institutionalized, Not Self-Sustaining. Paper presented at the Conference on “The Russian Federation and the EU – New Dimensions of Regionalism and Federalism”. University of Leuven, 2005.08.11.

Htun M. Is Gender like Ethnicity? The Political Representation of Identity Groups. – Perspective on Politics. 2004. Vol. 2. No. 3. P. 439-458.

Iff A. Peace-Promoting Federalism: Making Sense of India and Nigeria. – Publius: The Journal of Federalism. 2013. Vol. 43. No. 2. P. 227-250. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/publius/pjs031

Kharitonova O.G. SFRY: Institutional Problems of Ethnic Federation. – Political Science (RU). 2013. No. 3. P. 190-205.

Kharitonova О.G. Bosnia and Croatia in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Institutional Problems of an Ethnic Federation. – Comparative Politics Russia. 2014. Vol. 5. No. 1(14). P. 22-30. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.18611/2221-3279-2014-5-1(14)-22-30

Kymlicka W. Federalism, Nationalism, and Multiculturalism. – Theories of Federalism: A Reader. N.Y.: Palgrave Macmilllan. 2005. P. 269-292. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-05549-1_24

Lemko J. Political Stability in Federal Governments. N.Y.: Praeger. 1991. viii, 209 p

Lublin D., Wright M. Engineering Inclusion: Assessing the Effects of Pro-minority Representation Policies. – Electoral Studies. 2013. Vol. 32. No. 4. P. 746-755. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2013.06.001

Mendras M. Asimmetriya ili mnogoobrazie [Asymmetry or Diversity]. – Asimmetrichnost’ Federatsii [Asymmetry of the Federation]. Moscow: Izd-vo Tsentra konstitutsionnykh issledovanii Moskovskogo obshchestvennogo nauchnogo fonda. 1997. P. 5-12. (In Russ.)

Nimni E. Nationalism, Ethnicity and Self-Determination: A Paradigm Shift? – Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism. 2009. Vol. 9. No. 2. P. 319-332. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-9469.2009.01039.x

Osnovy teorii i praktiki federalizma [Foundations of the Theory and Practice of Federalism]. Institut Evropeiskoi politiki Katolicheskogo universiteta. 1999. 233 p. (In Russ.)

Pantin V.I., Lapkin V.V. Ethnopolitical and Ethnosocial Processes in Post-Soviet Countries (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine Cases). – Polis. Political Studies. 2015. No. 5. P. 75-93 (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2015.05.07

Roeder Ph.G. 2009 Ethnofederalism and the Mismanagement of Conflicting Nationalisms. – Regional and Federal Studies. Vol. 19. No. 2. P. 203-219. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13597560902753420

Ruedin D. Ethnic Group Representation in a Cross-National Comparison. – The Journal of Legislative Studies. 2009. Vol. 15, No. 4. P. 335-354. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13572330903302448

Ruiz-Rufino R. Satisfaction with Democracy in Multi-ethnic Countries: The Effect of Representative Political Institutions on Ethnic Minorities. – Political Studies. 2013. Vol. 61. No. 1. P. 101-118. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ j.1467-9248.2012.00955.x

Schertzer R. Recognition or Imposition? Federalism, National Minorities, and Supreme Court of Canada. – Nations and Nationalism. 2008. Vol. 14. No. 1. P. 10-126. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8129.2008.00324.x

Schnekener U. Making Power-Sharing Work: Lessons from Successes and Failures in Ethnic Conflict Regulation. – Journal of Peace Research. 2002. Vol. 39. No. 2. P. 203-228. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343302039002004

Stanovičić V. Problems and Options in Institutionalizing Ethnic Relations. – International Political Science Review. 1992. Vol. 13. No. 4. P. 359-379. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/019251219201300402

Steiner J. Conditional Integration and Swiss Federalism: A New Openness to Europe? – The Impact of Global and Regional Integration on Federal Systems. A Comparative Analysis. Kingston: McGrll-Queen’s University Press. 2003. 371 p.

Tillin L. Explaining Territorial Change in Federal Democracies: Comparative Historical Institutionalist Approach. – Political Studies. 2015. Vol. 63. No. 3. P. 626-664. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9248.12118

Content No. 2, 2017