Representation and identity : the right of persons belonging to minorities to effective participation in public affairs : content, justification and limits

Abstract

This doctoral thesis aims at investigating this new international right of persons belonging to minorities to effective participation in public affairs. What is its content? What is its justification and what is it aiming at? Are there any limits to its implementation and what kind of problematic issues are involved? The example of Bosnia and Herzegovina as described above illustrates that organising representation along ethnic lines raises challenging questions. These will be explored in this PhD.Our investigation of the right of minorities to effective participation in public affairs will run through five chapters: Chapter 1 will outline the theoretical framework; Chapter 2 will examine the political rights in the general human rights instruments; Chapter 3 will study the provision on effective participation in public affairs in the three key minority rights instruments of the 1990’s; Chapter 4 will look at the range of possible domestic mechanisms implementing the right of minorities to effective participation in public affairs through a comparative national law approach; and Chapter 5 will illustrate Chapter 4 by zooming in on three case studies, namely Belgium, Italy and Hungary.