Panov Petr Viacheslavovoch –Sc.D. in Political Sciences, Chief Researcher, Perm Federal Research Center, Ural Branch, RAS
Despite nation-building efforts, Western European countries remain ethnically heterogeneous. At the same time, the presence of ethnic minorities in itself is not a political problem as long as ethnic identity does not become politicized. As a rule, this is expressed in the creation of ethnic political parties and the emergence of self-determination movements, which often cases ethnopolitical conflicts. The article makes an attempt to highlight how Western European states react to the ethnopolitical mobilization that has intensified in the last 20-30 years. The policies towards self-determination movements are examined from the perspective of a combination of two dimensions of institutional reforms: the intentions of the authorities (“loyal versus forced policy”) and the addressee of the reforms (“specific versus universal policy”). A comparative review shows that the policy of suppressing self-determination movements is currently used only in exceptional situations (Catalonia). In rare cases, Western European states have resorted to restrictions regarding ethnic minorities (suspension of devolution in Northern Ireland). More frequently, states ignore the demands of minorities. However, the most typical policy is institutional reforms aimed at making concessions to ethnic minorities. The overwhelming majority of countries pursue a “predominantly loyal policy” towards ethnic minorities, which is quite consistent with European trends. At the same time, from the view of the “addressee”, almost all countries prefer a “predominantly specific policy”, only in Italy and Spain, and even then with reservations, the opposite trend can be traced. As a result, most countries fit into the “predominantly loyal and specific policy” category, while there are no countries in the “predominantly forced and universal policy” category.
ethnicity, minorities, self-determination movements, reforms, Western Europe.
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