Thesis (Ph.D.)--The American University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-146).

Conventional wisdom portrays ethnic minorities as likely victims of democratization who often fall prey to nationalist aggression fueled by power-seeking elites. Yet, history is replete with newly democratic states that have not only avoided targeted violence against ethnic "others" but also sought to reconcile with aggrieved ethnic minorities through concessions over self-determination. In light of conventional wisdom, this picture is puzzling and raises two important questions: 1) Why is self-determination reform so frequently observed during democratization periods? 2) Why do some democratizing states accommodate minority demands for self-determination while others continue to neglect minority grievances, or worse, become a breeding ground for exclusionary nationalism and minority repression? This dissertation is dedicated to addressing these questions. To answer the first question, I develop a novel theory of self-determination reform that explains the conditions under which government leaders develop both the capacity and incentives to introduce policies that devolve some degree of autonomy to separatist minorities. The theory pinpoints early democratization as a critical juncture where two key conditions necessary for self-determination reform - limited institutional constraints to rule and threats to elite survival - are most likely to be observed together. During early democratization, newly democratic governments are able to push forward radical policy changes without the meddling of institutionally empowered veto players, who typically gain more leverage as the democratic regime consolidates. Matching this capacity for reform are democratizers' strategic incentives to co-opt ethnic separatists. The source of these incentives, I argue, is the emergence of threats to elite survival during the early democratization period, which may be posed by a number of anti-democratic forces including the loyalists of the authoritarian regime and coup-plotting military factions. Amidst political instability, extending an olive branch to separatist minorities helps threatened democratizers strengthen their hand vis-a-vis imminent threats to their survival by containing separatist violence in the periphery and preventing tactical alliances between center-seeking and separatist rebel groups. In certain paths to democracy, democratizers also develop reputational incentives for self-determination reform, which helps establish democratic credentials through signaling a clean break with authoritarian practices. I test my hypotheses using a mixed-method research design, combining statistical analyses of large-N data with a detailed case study of the Philippines-Moro relations during the country's transition to democracy in the mid-1980s. The quantitative findings confirm my hypotheses about the domestic political conditions that are most conducive to minority accommodation, as well as the relationship between democratization and self-determination reform. The Philippines chapter illustrates how strategic and reputational incentives for minority accommodation drive self-determination reform in early democracies, drawing on evidence from secondary sources and semi-structured interviews conducted during fieldwork in Manila. In later chapters, I turn to my second research question and explore the variation in transition outcomes for separatist minorities across democratizing states. The key insight is that conciliatory steps towards ethnic separatists is a likely outcome in all types of transition paths marked by political instability, with the exception of coerced incumbent-led transitions where the incumbent views electoral competition as the primary threat to its survival prospects. In addition to this exception, non-conciliatory outcomes may also be observed in top-down transitions led by powerful autocrats who democratize voluntarily and do so without allowing the transition process to generate any threats to their survival. Case studies of Spain, Nicaragua and Turkey introduced in the last chapter help probe the generalizability of the theory and illustrate how different transition paths shape democratizers' policies towards separatists disputes. Altogether, my dissertation project presents a novel theory of self-determination reform, as well as undertaking the first systematic analysis of the conditions under which democratization paves the way for state-minority reconciliation. More broadly, the theory and findings also add nuance to current thinking about democratization and ethnic minorities, providing evidence that transition processes are not closely associated with minority victimization and ethnic violence as is commonly assumed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 960-984). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 960-984). Also available on the Internet.

Cette thèse porte sur le mouvement séparatiste tamoul sri lankais en France, depuis son émergence au début des années 1980 jusqu'à 2009. L'enjeu est de comprendre les ressorts du nationalisme à distance tel qu'il est diffusé par les associations tamoules de la région parisienne qui ont soutenu les Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Il est aussi dequestionner le concept de nationalisme à longue distance. A partir d'une enquête reposant principalement sur des entretiens et de l'observation directe, ce travail propose notamment une analyse du fonctionnement interne du mouvement et de ses relations externes. C'est d'abord le projet identitaire et politique du nationalisme eelamiste qui est défini, ainsi que la façon dont les leaders pro LTTE ont diffusé cette idéologie nationaliste dans l'ensemble de la diaspora tamoule. Le succès des discours séparatistes ne peut cependant se comprendre sans une analyse des dispositifs qui permettent en France d'ancrer la nation tamoule dans la vie quotidienne des migrants. Cette thèse montre ainsi que le mouvement nationaliste tamoul fonctionne comme une institution dans laquelle les comportements de dévouement sont valorisés, mais aussi dans laquelle la possibilité d'investissements différenciés est aménagée. Enfin, cette étude montre comment le mouvement eelamiste en France a été amené à se reconfigurer sous l'effet des relations externes établies à différentes échelles d'action / This dissertation deals with the Sri Lankan Tamil separatist movement in France, from its beginning in the 1980's to 2009. The aim is to understand the way Tamil associations in the Paris region have supported the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and have spread the Tamil long-distance nationalism. Based mainly on interviews and direct observation, this studyoffers an interactionnist analysis of the internal functioning of the movement and of its external relations. First the identity and political project of Eelam nationalism is exposed, as well as the way it has expanded in the Tamil diaspora. Nevertheless the succes of nationalist discourses cannot be understood without examining the system that anchors the Tamil nation in the migrants' daily lives. This dissertation shows that the Tamil nationalist movement works like an institution. Devotion behaviours are encouraged but differentiated engagements are also made possible. Finally this work shows how the Eelam movement in France has evolved according to the effects of external relations at multiple locations

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Most studies examine how homeland policies influence the host state and what role the homeland plays for diaspora. In this paper, I will examine the reasons and conditions for why ethnic groups do or do not support violent ethnic groups. This study tests how external threats impact the level of support within the same ethnic groups. I will examine the causal relationship between external pressure and non-cooperation through a structured, comparative study of Kurdish ethnic groups.