Minorities overlooked: Group-based power-sharing and the exclusion-amid-inclusion dilemma

Abstract

Ethnic power-sharing has been accused of decreasing ethnic inequality in unequal ways: while benefitting larger ethnic minorities, it often tends to overlook the smallest groups. Paradoxically, ethnic micro-minorities may thus find themselves in even more marginalised positions in power-sharing regimes than under institutional settings lacking any mandated inclusion. This article tests for the existence of this exclusion-amid-inclusion dilemma using a new group-based dataset that distinguishes between different types of power-sharing. The findings indicate that this dilemma indeed exists for ethnically based, but not for more liberal types of power-sharing, which increase all minorities’ political status in an equal, albeit less strong, manner. The article concludes that adopting one form of power-sharing or the other means not only prioritising one form of equality over another, but also making a decision with severe political ramifications for the numerically most vulnerable ethnic minority communities.