Minorities and effective political participation: a survey of law and national practices 2010, para. 81
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One system of power-sharing which is frequently regarded as enabling minority participation in Government is consociationalism, whereby all larger minorities are entitled to participate in Government and to a proportion of positions in the public service. Under consociationalism, ethnic groups are recognized as political entities and, as such, are entitled to a large degree of self-government in matters deemed to be internal to them, and to a share in power when matters of common interest are being resolved at the national level. It is also possible to base power-sharing not explicitly on ethnicity but on political parties; such arrangements tend to encourage the political integration of ethnic groups. A major criticism of consociationalism is that it risks excluding and disempowering smaller minorities who are not included in such arrangements.