scholarly journals Is it time to let go? The Best Loser System in Mauritius

Afrika Focus ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-79
Author(s):  
Yonatan Fessha ◽  
Nora Ho Tu Nam
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Minority Representation ◽  
Ethnic Representation ◽  
National Parliament ◽  
Unique System

As Mauritius was moving towards independence, one contested issue was the electoral system to be adopted. Minority groups were wary of any electoral system which would allow for a Hindu-hegemony and which would leave them unable to access power. To respond to this anxiety, Mauritius adopted the best loser system (BLS), a unique system of ethnic representation in the national parliament. This contribution examines how the adoption of BLS, has over the years, contributed to the management of ethnic diversity. More importantly, it examines the current debate regarding the contemporary relevance of BLS to today’s Mauritius. At times heavily criticized for its communal and ethnic undertones, BLS has ensured continued minority representation in parliament. The article argues that one must be cautious about dismissing the relevance of inclusive institutions such as BLS as such an attitude might well undermine the move towards a more united Mauritius.

scholarly journals Is it time to let go? The Best Loser System in Mauritius

Afrika Focus ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yonatan Fessha ◽  
Nora Ho Tu Nam
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Minority Representation ◽  
Ethnic Representation ◽  
National Parliament ◽  
Unique System

As Mauritius was moving towards independence, one contested issue was the electoral system to be adopted. Minority groups were wary of any electoral system which would allow for a Hindu- hegemony and which would leave them unable to access power. To respond to this anxiety, Mauritius adopted the best loser system (BLS), a unique system of ethnic representation in the national parliament. This contribution examines how the adoption of BLS, has over the years, contributed to the management of ethnic diversity. More importantly, it examines the current debate regarding the contemporary relevance of BLS to today’s Mauritius. At times heavily criticized for its commu- nal and ethnic undertones, BLS has ensured continued minority representation in parliament. The article argues that one must be cautious about dismissing the relevance of inclusive institutions such as BLS as such an attitude might well undermine the move towards a more united Mauritius. 

Electoral Systems and Ethnic Minority Representation

2017 ◽  
pp. 158-174
Author(s):  
David Lublin ◽  
Shaun Bowler
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Democratic Process ◽  
Minority Representation ◽  
Ethnic Geography

Every democratic process short of unanimity produces opinion minorities. Political divisions along anchored demographic characteristics like language, religion, race, or ethnicity challenge pluralist models of governance by threatening to entrench the exclusion of minority groups from political power. Especially when attuned to ethnic geography, electoral engineering through manipulation of the electoral system and other rules governing the electoral process, such as boundary delimitation, reserved seats, ballot-access requirements, and ethnic party bans, can help promote either inclusion or exclusion of minorities. Ensuring long-term interethnic peace has proved more difficult. Scholars continue to grapple with how to ensure minority inclusion without freezing existing divisions.

Electoral rules and minority representation in Romania

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleh Protsyk ◽  
Lupsa Marius Matichescu
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Proportional Representation ◽  
Electoral Rules ◽  
Minority Representation ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Lower Chamber ◽  
Legislative Representation

This paper explores the effects that different institutional mechanisms for legislative representation have on ethnic diversity in the lower chamber of the Romanian parliament. It uses an original data set to examine representational outcomes generated by a combination of proportional representation and reserved seats provisions. The findings highlight the benefits that Romania’s choice of electoral rules generated for smaller minority communities and limitations that these rules impose on the nature and extent of legislative representation of large minority groups. The paper provides evidence for qualifying the scholarly support in favour of proportional representation. It also draws attention to potential trade-offs between communal representation and ethnic inclusiveness of main political parties that the use of special mechanisms for minority representation might encourage.

scholarly journals Addressing inequities in maternal health among women living in communities of social disadvantage and ethnic diversity

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Fernandez Turienzo ◽  
◽  
Mary Newburn ◽  
Agnes Agyepong ◽  
Rachael Buabeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Social Disadvantage ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Community Stakeholders ◽  
Public Health Strategies ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe response to the coronavirus outbreak and how the disease and its societal consequences pose risks to already vulnerable groups such those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged and ethnic minority groups. Researchers and community groups analysed how the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated persisting vulnerabilities, socio-economic and structural disadvantage and discrimination faced by many communities of social disadvantage and ethnic diversity, and discussed future strategies on how best to engage and involve local groups in research to improve outcomes for childbearing women experiencing mental illness and those living in areas of social disadvantage and ethnic diversity. Discussions centred around: access, engagement and quality of care; racism, discrimination and trust; the need for engagement with community stakeholders; and the impact of wider social and economic inequalities. Addressing biomedical factors alone is not sufficient, and integrative and holistic long-term public health strategies that address societal and structural racism and overall disadvantage in society are urgently needed to improve health disparities and can only be implemented in partnership with local communities.

Minimalinvasiv oder wirksam? Debattenbeitrag zur Novellierung des Bundeswahlrechts vom Oktober 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 675-684
Author(s):  
Johannes Krause
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Vote System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Standard Size ◽  
National Parliament ◽  
System P ◽  
Voting System ◽  
The Way

Despite the 2020 reform of Germany’s national parliament voting law, the debate about a robust voting system has not ended . Träger and Jacobs have convincingly shown that Naun­dorf’s suggestion to introduce a parallel voting system creates more problems than it solves, and thus more far-reaching approaches have to be considered . One way to stop the Bunde­stag from growing is to reject the two vote-system . Comparable to the system of Thuringia’s local elections, with open lists and three votes per voter, both the standard size of the Bun­destag can be safely adhered to and at the same time a personalized proportional represen­tation can be maintained . Among other advantages, the voters would have greater influence on the personalized composition of the Bundestag . In particular, reservations on the part of the political parties could stand in the way of such a sustainable solution to the ongoing problems with the German electoral system .

Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Affairs in Light of National Case Law

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 621-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Marko
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
National Courts ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Protection Mechanisms

Based on different concepts of nation-states, the article tries to demonstrate through the analysis of decisions of national courts that despite the same wording of the constitutional text, supreme and constitutional courts may come to totally differing conclusions in light of the constitutional history and doctrine of the respective country. The first part of the article gives an overview on case-law denying effective participation through non-recognition of ethnic diversity as a legal category, for instance through the ban of the formation of political parties along ethnic lines or through interpretative preemption of the legal status of minority groups. The second part of the article gives an overview of various legal mechanisms in order to enable, support, or even guarantee the representation and process-oriented effective participation of minorities in elected bodies, such as exemptions from threshold requirements in elections or reserved seats in parliament, and through cultural and territorial self-government regimes in those constitutional systems which legally recognize ethnic diversity. Nevertheless, the case-law demonstrates how difficult it remains to reconcile the notion of "effectiveness" with a positivistic and formal-reductionist understanding of terms such as equality, sovereignty, people or nation. The Lund Recommendations have served as an important guideline for a new, "communitarian" understanding of "effective" participation so that the author argues in conclusion that it requires more intra- and inter-disciplinary dialogue between law, politics and (legal) philosophy as well as between national and international minority protection mechanisms to "constitutionalize" this philosophy.

scholarly journals Does neighborhood walkability affect ethnic diversity in Berlin? Insights from a spatial modeling approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-187
Author(s):  
Alexandros Bartzokas-Tsiompras ◽  
◽  
Yorgos Photis ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Spatial Modeling ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Spatial Regression ◽  
Neighborhood Design ◽  
Neighborhood Walkability ◽  
Walkable Neighborhood ◽  
Significant Health

Prior research has reported that people living in more walkable places gain significant health, and environmental sustainability benefits. However, the positive impacts of walkable urbanism are not often inclusive and might affect minority groups. On this basis, this paper develops a composite GIS-based walkability measure (0-1) for Berlin metro area and investigates the association of walkable neighborhood design with ethnic diversity (i.e., Entropy Index). We explore this relationship by applying spatial regression models (i.e., OLS, GWR), while we control the effects of traffic-related air pollution (i.e., NO2), building height, and children density. Our findings suggest that for the total of 447 Berlin neighborhoods which were examined only one out of three had walkability scores greater than 0.5 as well as that community ethnic diversity is negatively related to walkability (β=-0.159, p<0.01).

scholarly journals Mortality of ethnic minority groups in the UK: a systematic review protocol

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. e034903
Author(s):  
Fiona Stanaway ◽  
Naomi Noguchi ◽  
Erin Mathieu ◽  
Saman Khalatbari-Soltani ◽  
Raj Bhopal
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Majority Population ◽  
White Majority ◽  
Newcastle Ottawa Scale ◽  
The Uk

IntroductionGrowing ethnic diversity in the UK has made it increasingly important to determine the presence of ethnic health inequalities. There has been no systematic review that has drawn together research on ethnic differences in mortality in the UK.MethodsAll types of observational studies that compare all-cause mortality between major ethnic groups and the white majority population in the UK will be included. We will search Medline (OvidSP), Embase (OvidSP), Scopus and Web of Science and search the grey literature through conference proceedings and online thesis registries. Searches will be carried out from inception to 2 August 2019 with no language or other restrictions. Database searches will be repeated prior to publication to identify new articles published since the initial search. We will conduct forward and backward citation tracking of identified references and consult with experts in the field to identify further publications and ongoing or unpublished studies. Two reviewers will independently screen studies and extract data. Two reviewers will independently assess the quality of included studies using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. If at least two studies are located for each ethnic group and studies are sufficiently homogeneous, we will conduct a meta-analysis. If insufficient studies are located or if there is high heterogeneity we will produce a narrative summary of results.Ethics and disseminationAs no primary data will be collected, formal ethical approval is not required. The findings of this review will be disseminated through publication in peer reviewed journals and conference presentations.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42019146143.

Candidate Selection in Ireland: The Impact of Localism and the Electoral System

1980 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gallagher
Keyword(s):  
Political Process ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Parliament ◽  
Republic Of Ireland ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
The Way

Although the selection of candidates for elections to the national parliament is an important part of the political process, there is little writing on the way in which this is carried out in the Republic of Ireland. This no doubt springs largely from parties' reluctance to reveal details of this essentially internal matter. In Duverger's words, ‘parties do not like the odours of the electoral kitchen to spread to the outside world’.

The Contextual Determinants of Whites’ Racial Attitudes in England

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin T. Bowyer
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Racial Threat ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Residential Proximity ◽  
Public Opinion Surveys ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Contextual Determinants ◽  
Black Populations

How do majority group members in emerging multicultural and multiracial societies respond to the experience of living amidst ethnic diversity? Recent public opinion surveys are analysed to assess the contextual determinants of English whites’ opinions towards ethnic minorities and immigrants. Multilevel analyses reveal that whites’ racial hostility is affected by local ethnic context; however, the direction of this effect depends on which ethnic minority groups reside in the area. Consistent with the contact hypothesis, whites who live in neighbourhoods with relatively large black populations display lower levels of racial hostility than respondents with few black neighbours. However, in line with racial threat theory, residential proximity to Pakistanis and Bangladeshis is associated with more negative attitudes towards ethnic minorities.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document