Participation of Ethnic Groups in Process of Political Decision Making - Essay Example

Governance: Assured Participation in the Political Decision-Making Process for Ethnic Groups Introduction Fox and Roth (2000) defined governance as all the processes involved in leadership undertaken by governments of various countries, networks, or markets over a tribe, family, informal, or formal organizations through norms, laws, language, or power. Whenever a group of individuals are joined together to accomplish certain objectives there is need for governance. Governance is focused on three dimensions that include decision-making, accountability, and authority. Kjaer (2004) stated that individuals involved in governance normally determine who has powers, who are responsible for making decisions, how the other players in the field make their voices heard and determine how to account for what is rendered. The big question in this paper is whether assured participation in political decision- making process helps to prevent ethnic conflicts or not. Governing a divided society in the line of religion and ethnicity is a difficult process that requires patience and community participation in the decision-making processes. The people in society should participate in political decision making to contribute to the choice of their leaders, economy, and other important crucial matters that affect their country. Encouraging community participation could also be a challenge especially where the leaders governing the states are hated by specific ethic groups because of their tribes or religion because they could aim at opposing the government in most of the decisions made just to prove that they do not support the leaders. There are conflicts in various countries around the globe because of governance based on ethnicity and religion that have made the citizens divided and confused since they are at the middle of the tensions where they are killed and tortured because of the decisions made by their governments. The scope of this paper is to discuss if assured participation in political decision-making processes for ethnic groups in conflict is likely to help prevent ethnic violence or merely entrench inter-ethnic tensions in the various societies using normative arguments that are theory-based. Participation in political decision-making processes Sahni and Medury (2003) confirmed that involvement of the community members in political decision-making processes is a necessary and desired part to ensure the development of activities in the society. Participation in political decision-making enables the government to tie various programs to the citizens, which could make the people live in peace and harmony or lead to ethnic crisis. Allowing the citizens to participate in political decision-making enables, the leaders to realize the change that is required in the community since individuals from different backgrounds will be represented hence enabling the governments to solve the issues that arise among the community members (Olowu, 2002). Through community participation in political decision-making, individuals are given the chance to choose their leaders in the society who represent the needs of the ethnic groups in the government hence preventing the conflicts brought about by unequal distribution of resources. Public involvements in the government leads to better decisions for the country as the citizens appreciate and understand their interests and needs as individuals and for all the other community groups. Jreisat (2002) stated that individuals are enabled to understand the group dynamics applied to mixed groups hence respecting the other racial and ethnic groups in various countries. Theoretical perspectives Charles Tilly discussed national self-determination as a problem for all individuals in the society. Tilly observed that people in the society are always discussing matters about nationalism that includes its varieties, origins, proper conceptualization, and the intellectual history. Charles Tilly focuses on the principle of national self-determination by recognizing that every distinct homogeneous individual in the society has a right to political independence to his or her own states (O’brien, 2000). Charles Tilly argues that if individuals control their own state, they have collective rights to exclude the members from other societies to protect their territory and the benefits of the state. These being the case, the small and weak states can formulate their own international and domestic policies without the interference from the other states globally. According to Charles Tilly the individuals who lack a state or a political autonomy that is substantial, have rights to struggle for their independence by exceptional means. Tilly stated that the people from other states have a right and obligation to fight for the needs of the people of the country to ensure a peaceful coexistence (Bevir, 2012). The theory of Charles Tilly advises individuals to recognize the new regimes of the states that have gained independence from alien powers. The theory by Charles Tilly shows that assured participation of community members in political decision-making is important as it brings the people of state together in focusing on the needs to protect their countries from their rivals and the alien states that try to dominate them. As Steiner and Usher (2003) observed in the theory of Charles Tilly, citizens should form strong commitments to the states by participating in political decisions to make their states a better and peaceful place to reside. A community-based theory of rebellion According to the community –based theory of rebellion by Roger Petersen he argued that individuals in the society rebel because they have always been presented with situations that exploit and oppress them regularly and therefore it is part of human history. Adams (2003) observed in the theory that several small groups of people in the community take advantage of the larger population but the real question is why the big population does not rebel against the smaller group that oppress them. According to the theory by Petersen, rebellion is sustained and triggered by the strong communities that are socially heterogeneous, politically undeveloped, and economically homogeneous. Chaturvedy (2005) confirmed that not all the strong communities are able to sustain and manage rebellion because of the variations that exist between localities and regions that are difficult to explain by broad generalizations. Social pressure in different communities is engrossed in normative ideas and the communities are divided into subsets for the need of identification and for the discussion of economic and political entrepreneurs (Alagappa, 2001). The theory of Petersen focuses on the fact that the people from strong communities are driven by both rational and normative factors in the society and hence involving them in the participation of political decision-making processes is important to reduce the chances of ethnic violence. From voting to violence From voting to violence is a theoretical perspective by Jack Snynder that suggests that ethnic and nationalist conflicts are caused by democratization especially around the early stages of the transitions in countries where there is a weak political institutions. Jack Snynders argues that an authority rests on the ideologies of nationalists heavily and the incentives of the nationalist bidding war is extremely powerful and increases nationalist’s conflicts (Helms, 2012). According to the writings by Armstrong et al. (2003), nationalism that emerges during democratization and the nature and intensity of the nationalist conflicts depend on the timing and level of economic development, the flexibility of the interests of the selected few and the power of the state’s administrative and political institutions. The theory by Jack Snynders”From voting to violence” does not therefore support the assured participation of community members in political decision-making because he believes that democratization leads to nationalists conflicts and therefore all the decisions should made by the elites and the political institutions in different countries to ensure peaceful existence. National self-determination Margaret Moore supports national self-determination where there is equal recognition of individuals from diverse national identities. Moore argues that the international law is ethically unconvincing and is riddled with inconsistencies hence the political practices based on that territorial conception failed to generate the mechanisms and rules for resolving the arising national conflicts and the philosophical underpinnings of international law are problematic (Bevir, 2010). Moore condemned the sovereign states the political states that were only concerned about their political interests hence exercising territorial integrity as the other citizens were unhappy and kept questioning the legitimacy of the particular states. Norris (2012) justified the idea of de-colonization and democracy where he advocated for the people to be involved in political decision-making since it provides them with a forum to condemn or support the governments on various ideas. According to this perspective, the international law promises to ensure fair treatment and civic equality to all individuals in the states but in real sense are only interested in protecting their own interests. The individuals who objected National self-determination were concerned with the indeterminacy problem and the problem of overlapping nationalities where by the people are not entitled to any units and a process whereby different nationalities identify with specific nationalities and avoid others for their own reasons hence not helping to solve issues that may arise (Bekkers,2008). Case examples China There are ethnic clashes in China between various groups because of religious and political reasons. The clashes have caused the lives of many innocent individuals, the economy, and expensive property. The ethnic groups involved in clashes are the Uyghur and Urumqi for instance; July 2009 the Urumqi lost about 35 citizens in outbursts of violence caused by Uyghurs in Xinjiang when they were fighting with the security forces. Sirianni (2009) stated that the relations between Uyghurs, which is composed of the Sunni-Muslims, and Han Chinese, which is a predominant ethnic group in China, are very tense because of religious tensions where the citizens are restricted from wearing Islamic covering and headscarves. The Uyghurs group causes conflicts because their children are not permitted to pray in schools and enter religious places. The unequal distribution of resources where the Hans earn more incomes and better jobs cause ethnics violence since the Uyghurs need to be considered by the government. One of the ways of solving these conflicts is by involving all the ethnic groups in the decision making to ensure all the individuals are represented. Southern Sudan Southern Sudan is one of the countries in Africa facing ethnic crises, which has led fear among individuals in the country because their lives are at stake. In December 2013,fighting broke out in Southern Sudan’s capital between different fractions of people and the gunfire has spread hence threatening the bigger parts of the country as the other international community’s fear that it is breakout of a civil war. The ethnic conflict began when the opposition leaders Machar Riek, Rebecca Nyandeng, and Pagan Amum had voted to boycott a meeting of the National Liberation Council (NLC). The president Salva Kiir then gave an order to the Major General Marial Ciennoung who is the commander of Guard of the President to leave the meeting venue and head to the barracks to disarm the troops. General Marial then ordered that members from the Dinka ethnic group to be re-armed after all the members from other ethnicities had been disarmed within the guard. The deputy of General Marial was uncomfortable with the order since he was from the ethnicity of Nuer and hence he began questioning the order when a fight ensued after the officers surrounding saw the commotion. The soldiers from the Nuer ethnic group re-armed too and started fighting with the individuals from the Dinka ethnic group. The people from Southern Sudan have been through a challenging life where floods and draughts occur regularly during the year, have poor infrastructure and most of the ethnic groups depend on help from international nations and various agencies of the United Nations to provide the basic needs to the susceptible populations (Sirianni, 2009). The ethnic conflicts between the Dinka and Nuer communities are based on political wrangles, which have led to lose of lives of many citizens in Southern Sudan. The Dinka troops were being led by guides to the homes of the Nuer civilians in Juba killing them mercilessly. The new crisis in Southern Sudan has led to the displacement of at least 352, 000 citizens internally and 423,000 individuals seeking for refugee status in the neighboring countries. The war in Southern Sudan is predicted to be based on political wrangles between the President Salva Kiir and Riel Machar who was the former vice president and the current rebel leader, who are fighting for power and money especially with the discovery of the oil reserves at Southern Sudan. President Kiir belongs to the Dinka ethnic group while Machar belongs to the Nuer, which is the minority group and the ethnic clashes are causing harm to their country since cases of hunger have increased and human suffering. The ethnic conflicts have led to disruption of humanitarian activities and agricultural development that are crucial to the future and survival of millions of individuals globally (Goldsmith, 2000). The government should consider participation of the ethnic groups in political decision-making processes to know how the people feel about various issues that involve leadership, social issues, and economic activities to prevent ethnic violence, which simply leads to lose of lives and destruction of properties in various countries. Conflicts in Nigeria Alapiki (2004) confirmed that Nigeria is another country in Africa where there are killings of many villagers due to ethnic and religious conflicts. Since January 2014, Nigeria has lost many Christian victims especially women and children on the other hand the Christians killed at least 300 Muslims during the massacre. Nigeria has always experienced the ethnic and religious clashes especially wars between the Christians and Muslims because the Muslims want to have their own leaders in power and their territories (Nwonwu et al., 2008). Goodluck Jonathan is the current president of Nigeria, this fact offends the Muslims in the country, and hence they fight Christians regularly to show that they have power to control all the territories in Nigeria. Knack (2003) confirmed that Nigeria has approximately 150 million citizens and they are divided equally between Muslims and Christians and then splintered into around 250 tribes. Jos is a town 300 miles north of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city. Jos is at the centre of Nigeria where a middle belt divides Nigeria into the Christian south from the Muslim north. The middle belt is the point where the Fulani-Hausa Muslims and Igbo –Yoruba Christians that are the major ethnic groups of Nigeria normally coexist in peace and harmony but sometime collide. Nigerians argue that they are fighting because of the scarce resources, scramble for land and political issues, but not ethnic and religious conflicts, which is not the case. Alapiki (2004) argued that the high rates of joblessness, corrupt politics, and poverty drive the radicals from various ethnic groups to commit horrendous killings in the name of getting the attention from the government but hurting the innocent citizens in the country. Nigeria collects many billions of dollars from oil revenues annually but the majority of the citizens live on less than a dollar a day. There are many ethnic clashes between the Christian farmers who come from the South and the Muslim herders from the North around the Plateau State in Jos fighting for the control of fertile plains in Nigeria. The poor distribution of resources has also led to conflicts among the various ethnic groups in Nigeria where for instance, the Southern part of Nigeria where Christians reside is rich in oil resources. Nwonwu et al. (2008) stated that the militants in the area around the oil reserves lobby for greater shares of the oil revenues, regularly blow up the pipelines, and kidnap the foreign oil workers to work for them. According to the writings by Bekkers (2008), the violence among the Christian and Muslim ethnic groups was kept under serious observation by a succession military systems until1999, the period when Nigeria embarked on the civilian rule. Assured participation in political decision making in Nigeria could be practiced in Nigeria but Bevir (2010) observed that the democracy that permits individuals to have more freedom of their religious expressions in Nigeria has intensified economic and political friction among the ethnic groups since each group only focuses on their own needs forgetting the others. There is no assurance that involving the ethnic groups in political decision making will lead to anything positive especially in a situation where the Christians and Muslims already hate each other and believe they should be superior than others because their religious believes command them to rule the others. Conclusion Governance is the processes where by individuals are controlled by various authorities in accordance the rules and regulations established in the community. There should be assured participation of individuals in political decision making to give a chance to individuals to contribute to development in their states and to reduce ethnic clashes due to cases of unequal distribution of resources. There are conflicts in various countries around the globe such as China, Sudan, and Nigeria caused by ethnic divisions and religious conflicts that have made the citizens divided since they are involved in the political wrangles and used as the tools of destruction. Theorists such as Charles Tilly, Roger Petersen, Jack Snyder, and Margaret Moore have given different perspectives on why participation in political decision-making should be encouraged or discouraged. Most of the theorists such as Tilly, Petersen, and Moore also support the involvement of community members in the decision-making processes since it facilitates development in the states. References Adams, F. (2003). Deepening democracy: Global governance and political reform in Latin America. Westport, Conn., London, Praeger. Alagappa, M. (2001). Coercion and governance: The declining political role of the military in Asia. Stanford, Calif, Stanford Univ. Press. Alapiki, H. (2004). Politics and governance in Nigeria. Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Amethyst & Colleagues Publishers. Armstrong, J. D., Farrell, T., and Maiguashca, B. (2003). Governance and resistance in world politics. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Bekkers, V. (2008). Governance and the democratic deficit: Assessing the democratic legitimacy of governance practices. Aldershot, Ashgate. Bevir, M. (2012). Governance: A very short introduction. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Bevir, M. (2010). Democratic governance. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press. Chaturvedy, J. C. (2005). Political governance. Delhi, Isha Books. Fox, G. H., and Roth, B. R. (2000). Democratic governance and international law. New York, Cambridge University Press. Goldsmith, A. J. (2000). Civilian oversight of policing: Governance, democracy and human rights. Oxford, Hart. Helms, L. (2012). Poor leadership and bad governance: Reassessing presidents and prime ministers in North America, Europe and Japan. Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar. Hooghe, L., and Marks, G. (2001). Multi-level governance and European integration. Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield. Jreisat, J. E. (2002). Governance and developing countries. Leiden, Brill. Kjaer, A. M. (2004). Governance. Cambridge, Polity Press. Knack, S. F. (2003). Democracy, governance, and growth. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press. Norris, P. (2012). Making democratic governance work: How regimes shape prosperity, welfare, and peace. Nwonwu, F. O. C., and Kotze, D. (2008). African political elites: The search for democracy and good governance. Pretoria, South Africa, Africa Institute of South Africa. Obrien, R. (2000). Contesting global governance: Multilateral economic institutions and global social movements. Cambridge, Cambridge Univ. Press. Olowu, D. (2002). Better governance and public policy: Capacity building for democratic renewal in Africa. Bloomfield, CT, Kumarian Press. Sahni, P., and Medury, U. (2003). Governance for development issues and strategies. New Delhi, Prentice-Hall of India. Sirianni, C. (2009). Investing in democracy: Engaging citizens in collaborative governance. Washington, D.C., Brookings Institution Press. Steiner, R., and Usher, S. E. (2003). Social and political science: An introductory reader. Forest Row [East Sussex, England], Sophia Books. Read More