[EL] My New Book: Minority Rules

[David Lublin]

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce the publication of *Minority Rules: Electoral
Systems, Decentralization and Ethnoregional Parties *by Oxford University
Press. You can currently buy it directly from Oxford for 40% off through
the end of the year
<https://global.oup.com/academic/product/minority-rules-9780199948840>(get
the paperback, it's much cheaper). Amazon
<http://www.amazon.com/Minority-Rules-Electoral-Decentralization-Ethnoregional/dp/0199948844/>
is
also selling it for 14% off:

This study of roughly 80 free democracies around the globe starts from the
premise that studies of ethnic conflict focus too often on failure even
though it would be easier to keep Humpty Dumpty up on the wall rather than
put him back together again. Instead, *Minority Rules* focuses on factors
that lead to the emergence of ethnic and regional parties and cleavages
using detailed qualitative case studies as well as quantitative methods.

Key Findings:

   - *Contrary to other theories that emphasize sources of minority
   discontent that exacerbate ethnic cleavages--for instance, disputes over
   control of natural resource wealth, Electoral rules* play a dominant
   role in explaining the success of ethnic parties and cleavages
   - *Decentralization* (i.e. *federalism*) does not augment ethnoregional
   party support in national elections, especially when carefully designed to
   allow for regional autonomy but not greater power at the center.
   - *Malapportionment and redistricting* aid minority representation in
   some countries but have no systematic impact on ethnoregional parties.
   - *Reserved seats* usually serve to aid the representation of small
   minorities but *lower thresholds* do more to advance ethnoregional
   parties.
   - In contrast to *ballot-access requirements*, e*thnic party bans* do
   not prevent the emergences of ethnoregional parties in free democracies.

These findings have implications not only for reaching successful
settlements to ethnic conflicts but also for preventing violent
majority-minority conflicts from occurring in the first place.

Best regards and end of self-promotion email,
David

-- 
David Lublin
Professor of Government
School of Public Affairs
American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20016
http://davidlublin.com/
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