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Integrating Minorities in Weak States: The Case of Georgia

Integrating Minorities in Weak States: The Case of Georgia D. SPECIAL FOCUS: THE CAUCASUS REGION Jonathan Wheatley* I. Introduction By focusing on the case of Georgia, this paper explores what happens when a state lacks the capacity to integrate national minorities by providing basic public goods and by ensuring the participation of minorities in the political and economic life of a country. Modern states are expected to perform a number of functions, including the provision of security, the supply of public goods such as pensions, healthcare and education, and the establishment of certain mechanisms to ensure that citizens somehow identify with the state and perceive it as legitimate.1 In Georgia and other successor states of the USSR, the state often fails to perform these core functions and this adversely affects the prospect of integrating national minorities into civic life in a peaceful manner. First, security is undermined by contested borders and disputed territories, by ineffective armies and by corruption within law enforcement agencies. This affects minorities disproportionately, as they often lack the capacity to protect their own vital interests from arbitrariness and banditry. Secondly, public goods such as healthcare and education are not provided and basic infrastructure (roads, electricity, etc.) is not maintained. Of course, this undesirable http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png European Yearbook of Minority Issues Online Brill

Integrating Minorities in Weak States: The Case of Georgia

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright 2006 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1570-7865
eISSN
2211-6117
DOI
10.1163/22116117-90000020
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

D. SPECIAL FOCUS: THE CAUCASUS REGION Jonathan Wheatley* I. Introduction By focusing on the case of Georgia, this paper explores what happens when a state lacks the capacity to integrate national minorities by providing basic public goods and by ensuring the participation of minorities in the political and economic life of a country. Modern states are expected to perform a number of functions, including the provision of security, the supply of public goods such as pensions, healthcare and education, and the establishment of certain mechanisms to ensure that citizens somehow identify with the state and perceive it as legitimate.1 In Georgia and other successor states of the USSR, the state often fails to perform these core functions and this adversely affects the prospect of integrating national minorities into civic life in a peaceful manner. First, security is undermined by contested borders and disputed territories, by ineffective armies and by corruption within law enforcement agencies. This affects minorities disproportionately, as they often lack the capacity to protect their own vital interests from arbitrariness and banditry. Secondly, public goods such as healthcare and education are not provided and basic infrastructure (roads, electricity, etc.) is not maintained. Of course, this undesirable

Journal

European Yearbook of Minority Issues Online – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2004

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