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Paternalistic Versus Participation Oriented Minority Institutions in the Danish-German Border Region

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Paternalistic Versus Participation Oriented Minority Institutions in the Danish-German Border Region Paternalistic versus participation oriented minority institutions in the Danish-German border region Adrian Schaefer-Rolffs & Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Schnapp ECMI WORKING PAPER #67 May 2013 ECMI- Working Paper The European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) is a non-partisan institution founded in 1996 by the Governments of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the German State of Schleswig-Holstein. ECMI was established in Flensburg, at the heart of the Danish-German border region, in order to draw from the encouraging example of peaceful coexistence between minorities and majorities achieved here. ECMI’s aim is to promote interdisciplinary research on issues related to minorities and majorities in a European perspective and to contribute to the improvement of interethnic relations in those parts of Western and Eastern Europe where ethnopolitical tension and conflict prevail. ECMI Working Papers are written either by the staff of ECMI or by outside authors commissioned by the Centre. As ECMI does not propagate opinions of its own, the views expressed in any of its publications are the sole responsibility of the author concerned. ECMI Working Paper European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) Director: Dr. Tove H. Malloy © ECMI 2013 2 | P a g e ECMI- Working Paper Paternalistic versus participation oriented minority institutions in the Danish-German border region This paper aims to explain how Denmark and Germany face the task of ensuring minority protection and the preservation of cultural diversity by way of recognising the national minorities’ needs for special attention. Both countries have installed different mechanisms that are designed to compensate minorities for their disadvantages as a group. Despite the fact that the equally well - developed structures on both sides of the border favour a compared analysis of the mechanisms in place, the disparity in the field of political participation receives particular attention in this paper. By way of analysing results from an online survey carried out in 2010, this paper shows how differently the minorities perceive the character of two special institutions for direct contact with political decision-makers. The Danish government and the state government of Schleswig - Holstein both introduced a contact person for the minorities within their area of responsibility. Our research has made interesting findings with regards t o the composition of these institutions. It seems that the service offered by the geographically more distant Secretariat to the German Minority in Copenhagen is rated favourably, whereas the locally more present Commissioner for Minorities and Culture of Schleswig-Holstein has been a disappointment to the Danish minority. Keyword: Minority rights; minority protection; minority participation; minority representation; national minority; Danish minority; German minority; border region Adrian Schaefer-Rolffs/Kai-Uwe Schnapp, May 2013 ECMI Working Paper #67 I. INTRODUCTION all situations. One situation in which implementation might not be as Democracy can, according to Robert Dahl, straightforward is the proper political be understood as a political system in which participation of any kind of minority, be it those affected by a decision have a proper national, ethnic, religious, cultural or chance to take part in making this decision.1 otherwise. This question of minority Although it is accepted by political theorists political participation has grown in as well as many men and women on the importance in Europe over the last decades. street, this norm is not easily implemented in This is the case, because European nations 3 | P a g e ECMI- Working Paper are beset by a total of more than 300 foster political participation in the Danish- national and ethnic minority groups with German border region. These are the over 100 million members. Awareness and Commissioner for Minorities and Culture of appreciation of this fact has massively Schleswig-Holstein (Beauftragte für increased recently in terms of politics as Minderheiten und Kultur des Landes well as with regard to discussion in the Schleswig-Holstein) and the Secretariat to social sciences.2 While there are at least the German Minority in Copenhagen (Det some explicit perceptions of the institutional Tyske Mindretals Sekretariat i København). quality of participatory rights and facilities This article will provide an answer to the across Europe, there is almost no empirical following question: How is minority account of the role and the perception of political participation organised and how political rights and/or institutions that foster successful is it? By “success” we mean how minority political participation. modes or practices of participation are being evaluated by members of the minority One area in which — according to a population. To analyse how said institutions perception in the literature — minority operate can help to identify best practices rights and structures for minority that might also be useful for other regions participation are exemplarily well developed with national minority populations. is the Danish-German border region. This area is sometimes even perceived as a role The article is organised as follows: model for minority integration in Europe.3 By taking Robert Dahl and Charles Taylor But even for this area, concrete knowledge as our starting point, we briefly emphasise of how exactly participation has been why political participation is important in institutionalised is limited and empirical general and why minority political knowledge about how the system is participation might be of importance in perceived is virtually non-existent. Given its particular. Secondly, we take a look at the positive reputation for minority integration legal status of the minorities in the Danish- on the one hand and the still sparse German border region and at the post- empirical knowledge on the other, we think Second World War development in this that the Danish-German border region region, paying special attention to the provides an excellent area of studying the institutional structure within which minority means for and perception of successful participation has been organised. To this minority political participation. It is of end, we first describe forms of political, further analytic value that there are two social and cultural self-organisation of the structurally very similar minorities in two minorities. We than move on to describing distinct political systems, with Denmark institutions and structures that are provided being a centrally and Germany being a by the Danish, the German national and the federally organised state. This provides us Schleswig-Holsteinian state government to with the additional opportunity to not only help minorities to make themselves heard in study form and function, but to compare two democratic decision-making processes. different systems for minority integration Finally, we present the results of the first and their successes. empirical study on minority participation in the Danish-German border region, focussing We focus our interest on two on the evaluation of the above-named institutions that have been established to special institutions. We conclude with an 4 | P a g e ECMI- Working Paper interpretation of the differences in participation of structural minorities can be evaluation we found between the Danish and assured. In his essay Multiculturalism and the German minorities. the Politics of Recognition, Taylor understands recognition of “otherness” to be II. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION critical and declares being accepted on one’s 8 AND MINORITY POLITICAL own terms a basic “human need”. He further declares every human being to be PARTICIPATION unique and inimitable and claims that As has already been stated in the everyone has to live this uniqueness as is introduction to this text, democracy can be best for him or her. “If I am not, I miss the understood as a political system in which point of my life; I miss what being human is those affected by a decision have a proper for me”.9 Taylor then argues that the ideal chance to take part in the making of this living of one’s own life not only applies to 4 decision. Dahl adds that all citizens are to individuals but to groups as well. He be treated equal with respect to their rights understands this idea with regard to the and chances to take part in those kinds of individual in the midst of others but also 5 societal decisions. This norm of course with regard to a (minority) group surrounded applies to members of minority populations by a majority with a dominant culture. He as well, but what that means in the reality of then presents two approaches of how a democratic decision-making is again not politics of recognition can be realised. The straightforward. The reason is that, with first one is called politics of universalism10 respect to decision-making, a national, and aims for a model of equal rights and ethnic, cultural, etc. minority is defined by demands. The second approach is called 6 its permanent structural minority status. politics of difference11 by Taylor. He What does this mean? While political describes the difference between the two minorities in a democracy can always have approaches as follows: the hope of someday becoming or belonging to a majority, the same is not true for Where the politics of universal structural minorities. And this very fact, dignity fought for forms of according to Taylor, at least has the potential nondiscrimination that were quite to effectively
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