Conference paper

Political Parties of Ethnic Minorities and European Integrations Processes

Siniša Tatalović ; Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Igor Crnčić ; Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

The article examines the work of ethnic minorities' political parties in European countries, particularly their attitude towards the process of European integrations. The process of European integrations, which has accelerated the development of democratic societies in Europe in the 2nd half of the 20th century, has brought the political parties of ethnic minorities to the political scene as one of the key "political players" in the regional and national party systems. Historically, political parties of ethnic minorities have represented the part of partisan division between the center and periphery, unlike the left-right division, which mobilizes the major part of traditional political parties. This division, precisely, is one of the main reasons that political parties of ethnic minorities direct their efforts at supranational, European level, in order to accomplish their goals. The process of European integrations represents one of the spheres for the conceptualization of political-ideological basis of ethnic minorities' political parties, upon which parties establish their perceptions, attitudes, opinions and political programmes. Despite many beliefs that political parties of ethnic minorities create their attitudes towards European integrations within the context of accepting or refusing the effects of integrational processes, there are, however, four basic conceptual frameworks, which facilitate the understanding of the variety of perceptions of European integrations processes: euro-enthusiasm, euro-negation, euro-scepticism and europragmatism.

Keywords

ethnic minorities; Europe; political parties of ethnic minorities; European integrations; ethnic conflicts

Hrčak ID:

291385

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/291385

Publication date:

18.10.2009.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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