Ethnic federalism, multi-ethnic or multi-national federalism,Liam D. Anderson (2016),
"Ethnofederalism: The Worst form of institutional arrangement...?"
Academia is a form of federal system in which the federated regional or state units are defined by

ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

. Ethnic federal systems have been created in attempts to accommodate demands for

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

autonomy and manage inter-ethnic tensions within a state. They have not always succeeded in this: problems inherent in the construction and maintenance of an ethnic federation have led to some states or sub-divisions of a state into either breaking up, resorting to

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...

repression Repression may refer to: * Memory inhibition, the ability to filter irrelevant memories from attempts to recall * Political repression, the oppression or persecution of an individual or group for political reasons * Psychological repression, the p ...

, or resorting to ethnocracy,

ethnic segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Intern ...

population transfer Population transfer or resettlement is a type of mass migration, often imposed by state policy or international authority and most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion but also due to economic development. Banishment or exile is ...

internal displacement An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. A ...

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population trans ...

, and/or even ethnicity-based attacks and

pogroms A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian E ...

. This type of federation has been implemented since the 1990s by

Meles Zenawi Meles Zenawi Asres ( Tigrinya and ; , born Legesse Zenawi Asres; 9 May 1955 – 20 August 2012) was an Ethiopian soldier and politician who served as President of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and then Prime Minister of Ethiopia from 1995 until h ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

. Meles Zenawi and his government adopted ethnic federalism with the aim of establishing the equality of all

ethnic groups in Ethiopia This is a list of ethnic groups in Ethiopia that are officially recognized by the government. It is a list taken from the 2007 Ethiopian National Census: Features of ethnic federalism have been displayed also in other countries, including

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

, and

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

-era

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

(see

Bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now N ...

s).

General perspectives

Definition

In an ''ethnic federation'' some or all of the federated units are constructed as far as possible to follow

boundaries, providing ethnic communities with a measure of autonomy. Because the federation remains one state, this is distinguished from outright partition. Such a system may be considered in nations where ethnic groups are concentrated in geographical localities. In an ''ethnoterritorial'' federation—a "compromise model"—the largest ethnic group is divided among more than one subunit. Examples include

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. This type of system may be appropriate for nations that contain one dominant group.

Motivation

One of the main motivations for introducing ethnic federalism is to reduce conflict among the groups within the state, by granting each group local self-government and guaranteed representation at the centre. Thus an ethnic federal system may have particular appeal where serious conflict is feared or has already occurred. This goal is "defensive" and accepts the permanence of different ethnic identities within the state. Federalism allows ethnically diverse groups a level of autonomy, protected by a constitution that prescribes the powers of the central government in relation to those of the federated units. As the units are delineated such that each ethnic group forms a local majority in one or more of them, it is hoped to reduce fears of unequal treatment or oppression by the state government, and enable each group to express and develop its own cultural identity within its homeland. The federal constitution will also provide for representation of all the regional ethnic units in the central government, enabling peaceful arbitration of the claims of different groups. In this respect the success of the system relies upon the willingness of the elites of different ethnic groups to cooperate at state level to provide stable government.

Criticism

Ethnic federalism as an institutional choice to alleviate ethnic tensions within a country has often been criticised, both on conceptual and empirical grounds. At the theoretical level the difficulties include: *The problematic concept of "ethnicity" as an ordering principle. Consciousness of ethnic identity may develop or harden within a political system structured along ethnic lines, and may be mobilised for political advantage. *Difficulties drawing the boundaries: complete ethnic homogeneity is rarely found within any territory in multi-ethnic states. As a result, new minorities are likely to be created within the subunits, who may be or feel in danger of being victimized, and may destabilise the federal system with ongoing demands for their own subunits. *The functioning of the system once established: "redefining politics along ethnic lines tends to transform everything into an ethnic issue". In some conditions the federal system may result in "ethnicizing group identities and giving rise to or exacerbating, instead of alleviating, ethnic conflict at the subnational level".Maryam S. Khan (2014)
ETHNIC FEDERALISM IN PAKISTAN: FEDERAL DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION OF ETHNO-LINGUISTIC IDENTITY & GROUP CONFLICT
, Harvard Journal on Racial & Ethnic Justice, Vol. 30, pp. 77-129 The power-sharing arrangements at the centre tend to lead to paralysis, while politicians or parties representing the different groups may seek to enhance their political position by refusing compromise. In most cases, however, ethnic divisions within a state are pre-existing and are not initiated by the establishment of an ethnic federation. *Tendency for secession. Instability and the pressure for secession are likely to increase once the groups within a country are provided with resources, legitimacy and an independent power base. The federal structures may enable the regional groups to build up economic, political and even military strength, leading to the ultimate collapse of these states under ethnic tension. People will increasingly identify with the regional subunit rather than the federation as a whole, thus threatening the unity of the state. *In cases of severe hostility and conflict, ethnic federalism does not go far enough in separating rival groups, and partition may prove to be necessary. It is also noted that in practice ethnic federations have frequently failed: but it is rarely clear how far this is because ethnic federalism is a misconceived institutional form or because of the inherent difficulties in running a state with deep ethnic divisions ("overwhelmingly, those states that adopt ethnofederalism do so because alternatives have been tried already, and have failed"). Anderson (2013) cites among the failures: Eastern Europe (the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, and

), Africa (the

East African Federation The East African Federation ( sw, Shirikisho la Afrika Mashariki) is a proposed political union of the seven sovereign states of the East African Community in the African Great Lakes region Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, ...

and Ethiopia-Eritrea), the Caribbean region (the

Federation of the West Indies A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...

), and Asia (Pakistan and Malaya-Singapore). As ethnic federations still in being he points to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

(not a pure case), Ethiopia (not democratic), and

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

(whose future prospects are questionable).

Ethnic federalism in specific countries

Ethiopia

Ethiopia has over 80 ethno-linguistic groups and a long history of ethnic conflict. After 17 years of armed struggle, in 1991

's party replaced the

Derg The Derg (also spelled Dergue; , ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, then including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when the military leadership formally " c ...

(the

Mengistu Haile Mariam Mengistu Haile Mariam ( am, መንግሥቱ ኀይለ ማሪያም, pronunciation: ; born 21 May 1937) is an Ethiopian politician and former army officer who was the head of state of Ethiopia from 1977 to 1991 and General Secretary of the Wor ...

-led military dictatorship in Ethiopia). Zenawi, up to then leader of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the

Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF; am, የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝቦች አብዮታዊ ዲሞክራሲያዊ ግንባር, translit=Ye’Ītiyop’iya Ḥizibochi Ābiyotawī Dīmokirasīyawī Ginibari) was an eth ...

(EPRDF), wished to end what he imagined was a dominance of the Amharas of

Shewa Shewa ( am, ሸዋ; , om, Shawaa), formerly romanized as Shua, Shoa, Showa, Shuwa (''Scioà'' in Italian), is a historical region of Ethiopia which was formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Add ...

. A new

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

was introduced in 1994, dividing Ethiopia on ethnic lines into nine regional states and two multiethnic "chartered administrations" (

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, ...

and

Dire Dawa Dire Dawa ( am, ድሬዳዋ, om, Dirree Dhawaa, 3=Place of Remedy; so, Diridhaba, meaning "where Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", ar, ديري داوا,) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Oromia and Somali R ...

).Alemante G.
''Ethnic Federalism: Its Promise and Pitfalls for Africa''
(2003). Faculty Publications. Paper 88. Ethnic groups received rights to self-government: the states were given autonomy in legislative, executive and judicial functions, while there were provisions for ethnic groups to be represented in central institutions. Ethnic groups were granted the "unconditional right" to

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

, although it is doubtful whether any group could in fact achieve this. The government was aiming not only to reduce inter-ethnic conflict but to equalise living standards in different areas and improve the working of public institutions locally. There are different views on the success of the system. The country was described by a visitor in 2011 as "at peace, progressing towards prosperity". The federal system produced stability relative to the previous situation of conflict between a centralised state and ethnically based "liberation fronts", and the government has claimed that previously marginalised groups have benefited from the arrangement. In practice the autonomy of the regional states has been limited by the centralised and authoritarian nature of the ruling political party, the EPRDF, which has encroached on regional affairs and thus lost its legitimacy as a "neutral broker". The system, while aiming to establish the equality of ethnic groups in Ethiopia, has been found to harden ethnic identities ("The distinction between affective and political communities disappears ... when ethnic group identity serves not just as a source of affectivity but also as a source of political identification") and to promote inter-ethnic conflicts, especially in ethnically mixed areas. Inter-ethnic conflict has dramatically increased since the accession to power of

Abiy Ahmed Abiy Ahmed Ali ( om, Abiyi Ahmed Alii; am, አብይ አሕመድ ዐሊ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who has been the 4th prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia since 2 April 2018. He won the 2019 ...

in 2018. The system has given rise to demands for further separate ethnic territories. According to political analyst Teshome Borago, "Zenawism" contradicts the political philosophy behind the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of member states of the African Union, 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling fo ...

, in that every African nation agreed to keep the colonial boundaries after independence despite multiple tribes being placed together within national borders. In contrast, Zenawism is accused of promoting separatism and

irredentism Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent st ...

and may encourage African tribes to aim for their own independent states.Teshome M. Borago
''The dangers of Zenawism in Ethiopia and Africa''
Ethiomedia.com, 22 July 2015

Nepal

The ethnic aspect of a new federal structure in Nepal has been a source of contention through the constitution-building process of recent years. Multiparty democracy was introduced in Nepal in 1990 after a popular uprising led by the Congress party and the United Left Front, a coalition of communist parties. Ethnic issues did not emerge prominently in the drafting of the new constitution.Lovise Aalen and Magnus Hatlebakk
''Ethnic and fiscal federalism in Nepal''
CMI, Bergen, Norway. July 2008. Campaigns for more recognition of ethnic issues were led by Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) representing the ethnic groups of the hills, the regional Sadbhawana party of the

Terai , image =Terai nepal.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption =Aerial view of Terai plains near Biratnagar, Nepal , map = , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , biogeographic_realm = Indomalayan realm , global200 = Terai-Duar savanna ...

, and the UCPN (Maoists) under pressure from the

Madhesi people Madheshi people ( ne, मधेशी) is a term used for several groups of people living in the Terai region of Nepal, literally meaning the people of ''Madhesh''. It has also been used as a political pejorative term by the Pahari people of Ne ...

of the south.Adam Bergman
''Ethnic Federalism in Nepal: A Remedy for a Stagnating Peace Process or an Obstacle to Peace and Stability?''
, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University. Spring 2011. Following the

2006 democracy movement in Nepal The 2006 Democracy Movement ( ne, text=लोकतन्त्र आन्दोलन, translit=Loktantra Āndolan) is a name given to the political agitations against the direct and undemocratic rule of King Gyanendra of Nepal. The movement ...

and the overthrow of the monarchy, an Interim Constitution was promulgated in 2007. Years of debate in two consecutive

Constituent Assemblies Constituent or constituency may refer to: Politics * An individual voter within an electoral district, state, community, or organization * Advocacy group or constituency * Constituent assembly * Constituencies of Namibia Other meanings * Cons ...

centred on whether to base federalism upon ethnicity or a common identity, as well as over the number and locations of provinces. An opposition front led by the UCPN called for a federal system based on 13 ethnically defined provinces. The ruling

Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ne, नेपाली कांग्रेस ; abbr. NC) is the largest social democratic political party in Nepal. As per the results of recent local election, ''Nepali Congress'' stands as the single largest party of ...

and CPN-UML parties rejected the idea, arguing that ethnicity-based federalism would create tension among ethnic castes and communities. Resistance also came from the upper-caste

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

and

Chhetri Chhetri (Kshetri, Kshettri, Kshetry or Chhettri), ( ne, क्षेत्री ; IAST: ''Kṣetrī'') historically called Kshettriya or Kshetriya or Khas are Nepali speakers of Khas community, some of whom trace their origin to migration fr ...

s, who feared that their long-standing political dominance would be threatened by ethnic federalism. The three parties later agreed on nine founding principles for establishing provinces; five of these were identity-oriented, referring to ethnic and cultural ties. This led to the adoption of the term "ethnic federalism" to describe the structure proposed for Nepal, although some of the principles in fact referred to the wider notion of identity rather than ethnicity. The drawing of borders was complicated by the demographic distribution in many regions; there are over 100 officially recognised ethnic groups in Nepal, and many of them are geographically dispersed and do not form a majority in any territory.Subin Nepal
''Nepal and Ethnic Federalism: The Insufficiency of the Maoist Model''
Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, 30 June 2014 The present federal Constitution was finally adopted in September 2015. It established a federal structure to replace the existing unitary structure. The country was divided into seven federal provinces formed by grouping existing Districts. The promulgation of the new constitution was immediately followed by protests on the part of the Madhesi and indigenous population, mainly over the boundaries of the new provinces, fearing a diminution of their political representation.

Pakistan

Following the secession in 1971 of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

to become Bangladesh, the Pakistani government sought ways to accommodate the ethno-nationalist demands of the different groups within what had been

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was ...

. The 1973

imposed a federal structure giving autonomy to the four main provinces, each historically identified with an ethno-linguistic group: the

Punjabis The Punjabis (Punjabi: ; ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ; romanised as Panjābīs), are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group associated with the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of eastern Pakistan and northwestern India ...

Sindhis Sindhis ( sd, سنڌي Perso-Arabic: सिन्धी Devanagari; ) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who speak the Sindhi language and are native to the province of Sindh in Pakistan. After the partition of British Indian empire in 1947, m ...

, Balochis, and Pakhtuns. The political identity of these groups was legally recognised in the Constitution, giving them a status distinct from that of other groups. The provisions for autonomy were, however, fully implemented only in the province of

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

. Through the subsequent period of military regimes and conflicts in different parts of Pakistan, the federal system did not appear to confer stability comparable to that of India. The Constitution was re-introduced, with amendments, in 2010. This time all four provinces received "formidable autonomy in terms of both legislative and financial powers". In general the changes were marked by increased "ethnicization", encapsulated in the renaming of North West Frontier Province to

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

("land of Pakhtuns"). The changes were seen as "an important step forward" in strengthening the provinces, but there seemed to be little willingness to go further towards a fully multi-ethnic structure catering for all groups. The system has been described as "highly counter-productive" in respect of reigniting violent ethnic conflict between Sindhis and Muhajirs in Sindh. It has also evoked demands for separate provinces on the part of

Hazaras The Hazaras ( fa, , Həzārə; haz, , Āzərə) are an ethnic group and the principal component of the population of Afghanistan, native to, and primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan and generally scat ...

and Saraikis. Indeed, it has been asserted that “Pakistan is seldom acknowledged as an ethnic federation”.

South Sudan

South Sudan became independent of Sudan in July 2011, and initially the transitional constitution established 10 federal states and 79 counties, mostly based on ethnicity. Inter-communal conflict mounted, and there were calls from various groups for creation of further ethnocentric states and counties. Stephen Par Kuol, then minister of education in

Jonglei Jonglei State is a state of South Sudan with Bor as its centre of government and the biggest city. Jonglei state comprises nine counties: Bor, Akobo, Ayod, Uror, Duk, Nyirol, Pigi, Twic East, and Fangak. Jonglei State is the largest st ...

state, opined in 2013 that "ethnic federalism" in his country had proved "divisive" and "expensive to run" and did not make for real democracy, and called for multi-ethnic states and counties to be created at least around the main cities.Stephen Par Kuol
''The Peril of Ethnic Federalism in the Republic of South Sudan''
''Gurtong'', 4 May 2013 In October 2015, South Sudan's President

Salva Kiir Salva (Latin for "Save") may refer to: People *Francisco Salva Campillo (1751-1828), Spanish scientist * Ramon d'Salva (born 1921), Filipino actor * Héctor Salva (1939-2015), Uruguayan football midfielder *Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 1951), South ...

issued a decree establishing 28 states, again largely along ethnic lines, to replace the former 10 states. The measure was approved in parliament in November, although in February 2020 the number of states in South Sudan returned to 10.

Yugoslavia

The 1946

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

of the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Y ...

created a federation of six republics. To the three nationalities identified in the former name of the country - Kingdom of the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their ...

Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, ...

and

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Slovenci ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia, and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, History ...

- were added the Macedonians,

Montenegrins Montenegrins ( cnr, Црногорци, Crnogorci, or ; lit. "Black Mountain People") are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common Montenegrin culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Genetics Accordi ...

and

Bosnian Muslims The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, ...

(now

Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who share a common Bosnian ancestry, ...

). Alongside the recognition as nations of these republics, a strong central government was established under the control of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

. From the 1970s a division developed within the Communist government, between Croatian and Slovenian supporters of greater autonomy for those republics, and Serbian advocates of a centralized federation to preserve the leading position of Serbs as the largest nationality within the country. Opposition to Communism was expressed in the form of a growing

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

. After the central authority waned in the 1980s, the leaderships of the republics increasingly pursued the interests of their own territories and inter-ethnic tensions mounted. Between 1991 and 2006 the six constituent republics all became independent nations; the earlier years of this process were marked by a series of wars. The lesson drawn was:

References

{{Segregation by type Federalism Federalism in Ethiopia