Ethnocracy
The ethnocracy is a form of government in which the state authorities of members of one or more dominant ethnic to trade controlled groups in favor of their own interests, power claims and resources. Ethnocratic regimes typically show a thin democratic facade, which is supposed to conceal the profound supremacy of the dominant ethnic group. In an ethnocracy, citizenship takes a back seat to belonging to the "right" ethnicity, race or religion when it comes to political participation. The dominant ethnic group tries to align the state more and more with its own interests, which leads to conflicts with minorities and neighboring states.
As a result of these peculiarities, ethnocracies exhibit political mechanisms that distinguish them from democracies as well as from authoritarian and dictatorial regimes.
The nature and mechanisms of an ethnocracy were first described by the Israeli political scientist and geographer Oren Yiftachel . It is important to distinguish it from so-called ethnic democracy , which has functioning democratic structures but is characterized by an ethnic character. Yiftachel created the theory of the ethnocratic state primarily on the basis of Israel and Palestine , and compared the functioning of the Israeli state with other ethnic states and areas such as Northern Ireland , Estonia , Serbia , Croatia , Cyprus , Sri Lanka and Malaysia .
The work of Yiftachel and his colleagues showed that some areas of the state are vital for maintaining ethnocracy. These are primarily the armed forces , land administration, immigration control , and economic development. These areas secure the long-term dominance of the predominant ethnic group and create social classes that are based on ethnic affiliations. Ethnocracies often succeed in securing control over the minorities in the short term, in particular through their ostensible and ineffective integration into the democratic processes. They tend to become unstable in the long term and suffer from repeated conflicts and crises. These are sometimes resolved through a clear democratization of the state structure (e.g. the introduction of a concordance democracy ), but sometimes ethnocracies also slide into protracted internal conflicts, institutionalized ethnic discrimination or even apartheid .
Case studies
Israel
In Yiftachel's work, Israel was described as an ethnocracy. He is supported by a number of other scholars such as Shlomo Sand , Nur Mashala , Baruch Kimmerling, and Hannah Naveh . Scholars such as Gershon Shafir , Yoav Peled and Sammy Smooha - who developed the aforementioned theory of "ethnic democracy" - reject this designation of Israel. In his later writings, Peled noted the change of Israel to an ethnocracy based on the events and legislative decisions from the year 2000 ( 2nd Intifada ). He bases this, among other things, on a law that forbids Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens from taking up residence in Israel, and on the proposal of the party Yisra'el Beitenu to move the border between Israel and Palestine in certain areas in such a way that Israeli of Arab origin Citizens would live in Palestine.
swell
- ^ "Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) 5763", see article in the English language Wikipedia
- ^ Yoav Peled (2007): Citizenship Betrayed: Israel's Emerging Immigration and Citizenship Regime