Sponsor
Hatfield School of Government. Division of Political Science
First Advisor
Melody E. Valdini
Date of Publication
Summer 8-7-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (M.S.) in Political Science
Department
Political Science
Subjects
Political participation, Indigenous peoples -- Colombia -- Politics and government -- Case studies, Indigenous peoples -- New Zealand -- Politics and government -- Case studies, Indigenous peoples -- Taiwan -- Politics and government -- Case studies, Government accountability, Autonomy (Philosophy)
DOI
10.15760/etd.7142
Physical Description
1 online resource (vii, 85 pages)
Abstract
More than twenty legislatures reserve a portion of seats for ethnic minority groups, often in an attempt to prevent violent conflict and redress historical oppression. The intention of reserved seats coincides with indigenous group objectives--to achieve political representation while maintaining autonomy. Yet the formation and electoral success of indigenous parties does not always follow adoption of a reserved seat system. I explain this inconsistency by taking reserved seats as a necessary but insufficient condition of indigenous party formation, and arguing that two additional conditions must be met to motivate indigenous groups to form a viable party: the failure of the existing party system to respond to group interests and the failure of grievance resolution mechanisms to fairly adjudicate disputes between indigenous groups and the state. I compare this model of indigenous party formation to three case studies--Colombia, New Zealand, and Taiwan--each with a reserved seat system for indigenous peoples but nonetheless exhibiting different levels of indigenous party formation and success. This research makes three significant contributions: it explores how indigenous groups strategically balance autonomy and participation; it suggests reconsidering how indigenous party formation and reserved seats are conceptualized by rational choice approaches; and it points to new ways of thinking about how elites can manipulate reserved seats to cultivate state legitimacy and enforce minority group assimilation.
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/30504
Recommended Citation
FitzGerald, Michael, "Indigenous Party Formation and Success: the Strategic Roles of Reserved Seats, Parties, and Horizontal Accountability" (2019). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 5269.
https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.7142