| Abstract: | Conclusion Domestic politics is naturally important in ethnic policies. However, in spite of their potency, domestic political factors
are not always the most decisive. International organizations have influenced the Latvian and Estonian governments, and at
times the Slovak and Romanian governments. However, the ability of different organizational strategies to overcome domestic
opposition and thus bring about their desired policy varies widely. In most cases, actors need to use conditionality and aim
it at the appropriate decision makers. In spite of their widespread use, efforts that rely solely on persuasion and diplomacy
tend only to work when the domestic opposition is initially quite low or when ethnic minorities themselves have some bargaining
power in the government.
The key policy implication is that domestic factors do not make failure, or success for that matter, a foregone conclusion.
For example, ethnic minority representation within the government coalition is not in itself a guarantee of passage of the policy preferences of the minorities. Conversely, the presence of authoritarian-style
leadership does not automatically mean a rejection ethnic minority accommodation either, if organizations present their suggestions
so that such leaders view it as being in their greater interests to maintain power. Conditionality that targets incentives
to fit goals of the leadership can work. External actors are thus not justified in backing off from action based purely on
a domestic analysis. |
