Minorities At Risk And Horizontal Inequality Assignment

Minorities At Risk And Horizontal Inequality - Assignment Example Multi-party politics has been introduced in many countries as a way of reforming and improving governance. The increased political competitiveness has however provoked animosity between communities. The minority group ends up being politically marginalized and a possibility of conflict is real. The situation has given rise to power-sharing arrangements in some countries after a violent confrontation prompted by multi-party elections. Addressing all the existing horizontal inequalities among the ethnic groups is important both in countries where violent conflicts have occurred and in potentially volatile regions. Three categories of approaches have been identified to address the social inequalities namely the direct, indirect and integrationist approaches. Direct approaches advocate for affirmative action where previously marginalized groups are given preferences in access to education, political representation, and employment. The approach, however, may elicit disquiet among communit ies not benefiting from such policies. To avoid a potential conflict such initiatives should be given a definite time frame within which they can be used to correct the disparity. Indirect approaches involve policies that indirectly promote inclusion of all communities in the economic, social and political systems. The may include devolution of both economic and political decision-making mechanism. Such policies are however slow in taking effects and may be inadequate in addressing all the horizontal inequalities existing.