Ethnic struggle, coexistence, and democratization in Eastern Europe /

Ethnic struggle, coexistence, and democratization in Eastern Europe /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Stroschein, Sherrill.
Imprint:	New York : Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Description:	xxiv, 289 p. : ill., map ; 24 cm.
Language:	English
Series:	Cambridge studies in contentious politics Cambridge studies in contentious politics.
Subject:	Democratization -- Europe, Eastern. Ethnic groups -- Political activity -- Europe, Eastern. Minorities -- Political activity -- Europe, Eastern. Democratization. Ethnic groups -- Political activity. Ethnic relations. Minorities -- Political activity. Europe, Eastern -- Ethnic relations. Europe, Eastern.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/8847389

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9781107005242 (hardback) 1107005248 (hardback)
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:	"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"-- "In societies divided on ethnic and religious lines, problems of democracy are magnified , particularly where groups are mobilized into parties. With the principle of majority rule, minorities should be less willing to endorse democratic institutions where their parties persistently lose elections. While such problems should also hamper transitions to democracy, several diverse Eastern European states have formed democracies even under these conditions. In this book, Sherrill Stroschein argues that sustained protest and contention by ethnic Hungarians in Romania and Slovakia brought concessions on policies that they could not achieve through the ballot box, in contrast to Transcarpathia, Ukraine. In Romania and Slovakia, contention during the 1990s made each group accustomed to each other,Ŵs claims, and aware of the degree to which each could push its own. Ethnic contention became a de facto deliberative process that fostered a moderation of group stances, allowing democratic consolidation to slowly and organically take root"--

Table of Contents:

1. Ethnic protest, moderation, and democratization
2. Time, process, and events in democratization
3. Ethnic contention in context
4. Local violence and uncertainty in Târgu Mures, 1990
5. The power of symbols: Romanians, Hungarians, and King Mathias in Cluj
6. Forging language laws: schools and sign wars
7. Debating local governance: autonomy, local control, and minority enclaves
8. Implications of group interaction