Political representation of ethnic minorities within the party system is a crucial feature of inter-ethnic relations as well as a vital element of political inclusion. In Central and Eastern Europe, since the fall of the communist regimes, minority representation has achieved mixed results. This paper asks what institutional factors influence how ethnic minorities are represented in the party system based on a comparison of the experience of Hungarians in Slovakia and Romania, and of Russians in Latvia and Estonia. The paper specifically examines explanations for the diverse forms through which minorities are represented in the party system in these four countries with a focus on three distinct types: ethnic particularistic minority parties, integrationist minority parties, and accommodative majority parties. The cases are similar in that they all involve geographically concentrated sizable minorities with an ethnic homeland in the immediate vicinity of their state. Most importantly, the minorities in all four states – unlike other cases in Eastern Europe – are actually large enough to bypass electoral thresholds. The research design permits a comparison of two paired cases (Slovakia/Romania, Estonia/Latvia), each of which shows similarities in some regards but have different outcomes in terms of party representation. The paper tests the hypothesis that besides obvious impediments such as electoral thresholds, institutional constraints to (or facilitators) of party representation can take a number of other forms relating to party formation, definition of minority status, and state policies vis-a-vis the minority group as well as their elites.
