Parlamenti képviselet és kulturális jogok : Nemzetiségi (külön)jogok Kelet- és Kelet-Közép-Európában

Abstract

The dissertation consults the issue of national and ethnic minorities’ parliamentary representation and explores whether parliamentary representation goes hand in hand with other requirements stemming from the theory of multiculturalism, namely cultural rights and anti-discrimination measures. The research thus analyzes the parliamentary representation of national and ethnic minorities in 11 Eastern and Central and Eastern European countries using literature of multiculturalism and theory of representation. The theoretical approach of the dissertation, in addition to examining the definitional issues of multiculturalism, primarily deals with the necessity and possibilities of nationality representation. The research is based on two main methods. In the first part of the research, in order to examine the relevant institutions of the countries, I analyze the related laws and reports resulting from the monitoring mechanisms of the relevant international documents. Thus, I evaluate the institutions providing minority representation in terms of the possible quality of representation. However, the research is not limited to special mechanisms, representation by nationality parties is also part of the evaluation. In the second part of the research, the dissertation examines the connection, coexistence of parliamentary representation and other rights. I rethought the well-known MPI index to create the Kisebbségi Jogi Index (Minority Rights Index), which includes a total of 12 items. KJI measures political rights, cultural rights and anti-discrimination measures granted to nationalities on a 9-point scale. I created scoring rules and asked experts of national minority issues to evaluate the institution in the given country in a questionnaire. In total more than 100 responses, and from each country at least 6 answers were received. With the results I demonstrate that there is very strong correlation between parliamentary representation and the granting of other rights. In a country, where parliamentary representation can be assessed as well-functioning and effective, presumably cultural rights and anti-discrimination measures also prevail better. At the end of the dissertation, I attempted to include into the research one of the most pressing questions about the applicability of multiculturalism, the considerations related to the deterioration of the rule of law in states, using existing rule of law indices.