The Role of State Constitutions in Protecting ... - International IDEA

He stressed the need for Burmese to develop a proper understanding of federalism
– specifically, whether a federation is a union of territories or a union of ethnic
segments. Secondly, he pointed out that the ethnic nationalities and political
actors in Burma will have to look at ways to accommodate the aspirations for
ethnic equality, bearing in mind that no constituent state in Burma is ethnically
homogenous. Each state is multi-ethnic. Furthermore, Chao-Tzang Yawnghe
discussed the politics of ethnicity – how the concept of ethnicity has been used by
successive military rulers, and by the ethnic nationalities leaders and resistance
movements when articulating the aspirations of their respective ethnic groups.
The need to argue
for the democratic
decentralization as the way
forward for Burma
He introduced an alternative discourse, referring to the need to argue for
democratic decentralization as the way forward for Burma, focusing on the
possibilities of government through a federal system assured by state
constitutions, or on the basis of highly autonomous local governments under a
union constitution.
The Indian experience of accommodating diversity:
the salad bowl approach
Yogendra Yadav from the CSDS argued that even though many countries have
recently become democracies in name, in practice, real democratic norms and
practices are declining in many democracies. He stressed the importance of
institutional innovation, with different countries having to develop institutions to
adapt to their own experiences. He compared the experience to sewing shirts in
different styles and sizes in accordance with the needs of a particular individual.
He was hesitant to export lessons from India. He pointed out that there are mixed
lessons – both successes and failures. India’s experiences are encouraging
compared to some countries such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Yugoslavia, and the
former USSR. However, continued bloodshed in some of India’s states is rather
discouraging. Nevertheless, India enjoys a minimum level of achievement in that
the federation “holds-together”. India has been able to create a space in which
different ethnic groups can generally work out their conflicts through non-violent
means.
minority rights are
safeguarded by four
main components
• the bill of rights,
• federal division of power,
• a system of protections
for special areas and
• constitutional watchdog
bodies.
While Yadev elaborated on the design of the Indian constitution, he argued that
the nature of the society and civilization and the nature of political practices were
more important in understanding the whole federal picture in India. While India
has a federal constitution, it does not have state constitutions which safeguard
ethnic equality or protection. India’s federal constitution was written in a political
era when differences were viewed as a threat. However, minority rights are
safeguarded by four main components of the federal constitution – 1) the bill of
rights, 2) federal division of power, 3) a system of protections for special areas and
4) constitutional watchdog bodies. All fundamental rights are preserved in the
constitution (under the bill of rights) and cannot be changed since they are
guaranteed by Supreme Court. These include rights to equality, freedom, religious
freedom, culture and education.
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