Recently in Europe Category

I just got back from a short mini conference at American University on various issues involving multiculturalism in democracies.

First, let me be clear: the two cases are not similar in some critical & fundamental ways. But what is interesting is the political international repercussions that a secession implies.

I briefly mentioned the recent Belgian crisis in class today, while discussing the different historical paths towards democracy in 19th & 20th century Europe. The potential (though unlikely) disintegration of Belgium (as a state) is a stark reminder that states are not permanent, anywhere in the world. Something Bolivians should pay careful attention to. Because a “velvet divorce” is one thing, a bloody one is another thing altogether.

Matt Shugart (UCSD) posts about an interesting story from Romania, which he describes as a “Linzian nightmare.” The story is simple: in April, the Romanian parliament voted to impeach President Traian Băsescu by a ratio of 3-to-1; yesterday, a public referendum (w/ only 34% turnout) voted to reject the impeachement by a similar ratio (read the story on RFE/RL or Wikipedia).