Do more minorities in parliament or government lead to a better treatment of minorities?
What is the relationship between presence and influence, between minorities being included in institutions of governance and the protection and status of those minority groups? Clearly this is a much broader and more complex question than simply discovering how many minority parliamentarians are elected. But as a starting point one could posit the number of minority parliamentarians against measures of minority rights and the security climate within which minority groups live. It is fair to assume that if minorities are represented in parliament they are less likely to be discriminated against, and if they are mis-treated there is at least a mouthpiece to call attention to the mis-treatment. There is a relationship between the inclusion of minorities in government and a countrys adherence to international standards, norms and good practices on minority rights, but more often than not minority parliamentarians are the leading voices for minority protections and human rights norms.
