Research On Minority Rights

This paper is divided into six chapters, and the theme is to explore the mechanism and path of protection of minority rights. The first chapter is the introduction, pointing out that the essence of democracy is the sovereignty of the people. Majority decision-making, or the majority rule is the basic connotation of "democracy". But the majority decision-making may be ignored or prejudice the rights of minorities, and even the oppressed minority to the majority, leading to the "tyranny of the majority". An effective way to overcome the democratic deficit is constitution, the implementation of constitutional democracy, adhering to the majority decision-making and the protection of minorities unified.The second chapter is to define minority rights. Minority is divided into common minority and special minority. Common minority is the relatively small number of people, usually with the "majority" relative. Anyone could become a common minority. Special minority refers to a small number of people with ethnic, religious, linguistic and other characteristics. The special minority definition includes two aspects of subjective elements and objective elements. The rights contents and protection of ordinary minority and special minority are different, but related. Minority rights mean that minority gets or satisfies their specific interests in the way of the relatively free acts or omissions within the limits prescribed by law. Legislative model of minority rights includes equal protection mode, indirect (negative) mode, and direct (positive) mode. Three legislative modes have progressive, that is, from universality to particularity, from the negative rights to positive rights.The third chapter is the constitutional theory of minority rights. Humanism and the corresponding legal concept think that comprehensive human development and people’s fundamental interests as the starting point and destination, attention and protection of minority rights. The equality theory explains the rights of minorities being necessary to achieve formal equality, but also to achieve substantive equality. Multiculturalism and multiple values need tolerance. Political tolerance and tolerance of the system is a constitutional way of life of the minority. Multiculturalism produces the cultural conflict, so the minority and the majority require understanding and communication between the different cultures, and achieve harmonious development.Chapter IV discusses the practice of minority rights abroad. International human rights conventions, regional human rights conventions, as well as the Constitutions of the four countries of the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, have general equality mode, negative mode, and positive mode on minority rights provisions. They also provide protection measures for the rights of minorities, and provide domestic and international judicial remedies. National institutional settings, National Power and its operation also reflects the protection of minority rights.Chapter V analyzes the protection of the rights of minority status, and makes suggestions for improvement. First of all, our basic constitutional rights body has experienced the evolution from "the people" to "citizens". Giving the "citizens" the subject qualification of basic constitutional rights, the minority and majority truly become the masters of the country, and the rights of minorities get the most of living and development space. Second, it should be perfect People’s Congress nomination, election procedures, improve the rules of procedure of the National People’s Congress, establish the system of the debate and proceedings of the principle of openness, to protect minorities’true expression of the election will and participation in the management of state affairs. Again, we should reform the management system of social groups, to protect freedom of association, to improve special minority’s organized forces to safeguard their own interests. Finally, to solve the problems for the Protection of the Rights of Ethnic Minority Floating Population in China, we should improve the protection of the rights through legislation, law enforcement, judicial, and law-abiding measures.Finally, the minority rights in theory and practice are briefly reviewed and the future trends in the protection of minority rights are prospected.