1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910462304903321

Autore

Stroschein Sherrill

Titolo

Ethnic struggle, coexistence, and democratization in Eastern Europe / / Sherrill Stroschein [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2012

ISBN

1-107-22729-1

1-139-41130-6

1-280-68290-6

9786613659842

1-139-42266-9

0-511-79376-6

1-139-41964-1

1-139-42169-7

1-139-41759-2

1-139-42373-8

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xxiv, 289 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

Cambridge studies in contentious politics

Disciplina

320.947

Soggetti

Democratization - Europe, Eastern

Ethnic groups - Political activity - Europe, Eastern

Minorities - Political activity - Europe, Eastern

Europe, Eastern Ethnic relations

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

1. Ethnic protest, moderation, and democratization -- 2. Time, process, and events in democratization -- 3. Ethnic contention in context -- 4. Local violence and uncertainty in Târgul Mureș, 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.

Sommario/riassunto

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's 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.