Reference Type:  Conference Paper
Author: Meier, Petra
Year: 2009
Title: Defining Groups Entitled to Reserved Seats in National Legislatures: A Comparative Approach
Conference Name: American Political Science Associaton/APSA 2009
Conference Location: Toronto
Publisher: Social Science Research Network
Date: 11.11.2013
Language: English
Keywords: political science, political representation, comparative, granted seats
Abstract: (ENG) This contribution analyzes fourteen cases of reserved seats in directly elected national parliaments around the world (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Croatia, Fiji, India, Jordan, Lebanon, New Zealand, Niger, Pakistan, the Palestinian Territories, Romania and Slovenia), examining the extent to which they contain essentializing features. It studies how seats reserved for a specific minority group are related to candidates respectively voters by looking into who is qualified to stand for these seats, who is entitled to vote for these candidates, which criteria are used to identify them, who defines these criteria and to what extent they are reversible. The analysis shows that there are as many formulas for reserved seats as there are cases, that many of them do not require candidates and/or voters to have a descriptive bond with the group for which the seats are earmarked and that, at least theoretically speaking, many cases of reserved seats do not contain essentializing features.
URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1451143