6.7.4.6  Representation of Ethnic Groups in Peaceful Pluralism

(This is an archived extract from the book Patterns of Power: Edition 2)

An ethnic group, as defined previously (4.4.1), is a term which recognises that people who share the same racial, tribal, cultural and religious categorisations may also share some moral values.  Membership of an ethnic group is not voluntary and it may not play a large part in a person’s life.  There are some organisations, such as churches and expatriate clubs, which provide a focus for preserving a specific aspect of culture and which provide supportive relationships for their members; if these organisations overtly exert political pressure they are classified as ‘ethnic interest groups’ in this book.  Ethnic groups, though, might have no formal organisations and might play no active role in the governance structure:

·      Ethnic issues should not often affect the Political Dimension.  In the Political Dimension it is more relevant to express a wish about how the country should be run than it is to assert identity.  People’s preferences on issues such as health, security and the economy are not obviously affected by their ethnicity.

·      It can be argued that no ethnic organisation fully represents all the people of that ethnicity.  Many people might not formally join any organisation that can claim their support or speak for them.  This is an example of a generic problem in the Political Dimension, of ensuring that the ‘silent majority’ is adequately represented in political negotiation; it is analysed at the end of this chapter (6.8.4). 

·      People in ethnic minorities may already feel that they are adequately represented.  They may trust a politician who comes from another group, or they may trust the integrity of the society and its systems.  If they know that politicians in the existing system are already showing concern for their interests, they may feel that they neither need nor want additional representation.

Nonetheless, it is safer and fairer to offer ethnic groups some form of political recognition on relevant issues – such as education – to avoid the risk of them feeling alienated. 

There are at least three ways of giving some form of political representation to ethnic groups:

·      It is possible to make arrangements to consult specific ethnic groups for issues which affect them:

‒      Existing ethnic organisations can be approached, although they may not be regarded as representative[1] and people who aren’t active members of an ethnic organisation may not recognise any group leader as representing them (which is the case with over half the Muslims in Britain,[2] for example). 

‒      Survey techniques could be used, provided that either there had been some mechanism for registering people’s ethnicity or that the sample size was large enough to include a statistically significant number of people in each ethnic group.

‒      New bodies can be set up to facilitate a particular consultation.  If the government tries to select its own representatives from ethnic groups, though, they might not be seen as having sufficient legitimacy – as is the case with the Muslim Council of Britain, which has been criticised by both Muslims and non-Muslims as having inappropriate representation.[3]

·      Ethnic nominees can be appointed to participate in government, as in the example of Anglican bishops having seats in the British House of Lords; (this example is contentious, raising questions of balance in representation).[4]

·      Political parties may be set up to represent ethnic groups in a democracy, though that can easily lead to identity politics (6.7.4.2).  It is sometimes better, however,  to have such representation than to deny it – as in the example of the Basque separatist group, ETA, which called an end to its ‘cease-fire’ and resumed a policy of violence in response to the Spanish courts preventing its political wing, Batasuna, from being represented in elections.[5]  The ETA statement announced this by describing the ban as “a fascism that left parties and citizens without rights”.[6]  This illustrates the propaganda impact of the suppression of political rights (irrespective of whether this was justifiable in those particular circumstances).

These three mechanisms are listed in an ascending sequence of the perceived importance given to ethnicity in politics, but possibly in descending order of effectiveness.   Consultation can ensure that there are legitimate ways of exerting influence, so that people feel that pressure can be applied within the system rather than feeling that they have to oppose the system itself; it is a policy which has had some success,[7] and it only brings ethnicity into politics when it is relevant – so it is compatible with having political parties which offer joystick politics (6.2.6). 

© PatternsofPower.org, 2014