The “Peoples’ Congresses” in Russia: Failure or Success? Authenticity and Efficiency of Minority Representation
Publisher: ECMI Volume: 24 pages, pdf Description: The idea of “congresses” of ethnically defined “peoples” or ethnicity-based representative assemblies emerged in the Russian Empire in the early 20th century and then became popular within the former USSR in the late 1980s - early 1990s. The most famous undertaking of this kind was the Kurultay (Congress) of Crimean Tatar people established in 1991 along with the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, the permanent representative and self-government body, as well as the system of local Crimean Tatar Mejlises. At the present time in the post-Soviet states, elected bodies convened on behalf of certain ethnic groups are mostly to be found in Russia.