Abstract (may include machine translation)
This article describes and analyses the major institutional pillars and the basic underlying normative principles of the Hungarian minority protection system. After a brief overview of the basic characteristics of the various national and ethnic minorities and of the development of the minority protection system, the article discusses the basic inspiration for such a system and its institutional pillars and then proceeds to illustrate two major contentious issues that have characterised the development of Hungarian minority protection system from its beginnings in 1990s to the present. The first is the problem of officially defining the boundaries of ethnic and national groups. The second concerns the demand for special representation rights for minorities in the Parliament. The article then proceeds to measure the Hungarian case against available normative models in the light of concrete examples of ethnic politics. It is argued that the Hungarian experience supports the case for 'soft' and flexible institutions in the field of minority protection to provide for the democratic adjudication of ethnic claims, that is to say institutions that are capable of channelling the debates and deliberations on inevitably contentious issues.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 247-262 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 2000 |
Keywords
- Ethnic politics
- Hungary
- Minority rights