Political participation is increasingly recognized as a key issue in the debate about minority rights. This Commentary provides a comprehensive assessment of this right to political participation, arguing that minorities are more likely to feel co-ownership in the state if they can participate freely and effectively in all aspects of governance.

INTRODUCTION ; Democratic governance and minority political participation: Emerging legal standards and practice ; GENERAL ISSUES ; 1. Ethnic Diversity, Political Exclusion and Armed Conflict: A quantitative analysis of a global dataset ; 2. Ethnic Domination in Democracies ; 3. Understanding Minority Participation and Representation and the Issue of Citizenship ; 4. The Principles of Non-discrimination and Full and Effective Equality and Political Participation ; 5. Gendering Minority Participation in Public Life ; 6. Minorities, Political Participation, and Democratic Governance under the European Convention on Human Rights ; 7. The Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities and the Advisory Committee's Thematic Commentary on Effective Participation ; 8. OSCE Lund Recommendations in the Practice of the High Commissioner on National Minorities ; 9. Effective Participation by Minorities: UN Standards and Practice ; 10. Political Participation Systems Applicable to Indigenous Peoples ; 11. UNIVERSAL AND EUROPEAN STANDARDS OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF MINORITIES ; 12. Electoral Systems and the Lund Recommendations ; 13. Making Effective Use of Parliamentary Representation ; 14. Power-sharing at the Government Level ; 15. At the Heart of Participation and its Dilemmas: Minorities in the executive structures ; 16. Political Participation and Power-sharing in Ethnic Peace Settlements ; IV: CONSULTATION AND SPECIAL ISSUE PARTICIPATION ; 17. Minority Consultative Mechanisms: Towards Best Practice ; 18. Special Contact Mechanisms for Roma ; 19. Participation in Social and Economic Life ; 20. International Benchmarks: A review of minority participation in the judiciary ; V: MINORITY SELF-GOVERNANCE ; 21. Participation as Self-governance ; 22. Cultural Minority Self-governance ; 23. Enhanced Local Self-government as a Means of Enhancing Minority Governance ; 24. Minority Associations: Issues of representation, internal democracy and legitimacy ; PART VI: IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES ; 25. Minority Participation in Bilateral and International Reporting and Monitoring Processes ; 26. Legal Entrenchment and Implementation Mechanisms