Diaspora politics is the political behavior of transnational

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

s, their relationship with their ethnic

homeland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...

s and their host states, and their prominent role in

ethnic conflict An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's position within so ...

s. Shain, Yossi & Tamara Cofman Wittes. Peace as a Three-Level Game: The Role of Diasporas in Conflict Resolution in Ambrosio, Thomas. 2002. "Ethnic identity groups and U.S. foreign policy." Praeger Publishers. The study of diaspora politics is part of the broader field of diaspora studies. To understand a diaspora's politics, one must first understand its historical context and attachments. Ambrosio, Thomas. 2002."Ethnic identity groups and U.S. foreign policy." Praeger Publishers. A diaspora is a transnational community that defined itself as a singular

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

based upon its shared identity. Diasporas result from historical emigration from an original

. In modern cases, this migration can be historically documented, and the diaspora associated with a certain territory. Whether this territory is in fact the homeland of a specific ethnic group, is a political matter. The older the migration, the less evidence there is for the event: in the case of the

Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

the migration, the homeland, and the migration route have not yet been accurately determined. A claim to a homeland always has political connotations and is often disputed. Self-identified diasporas place great importance on their homeland, because of their ethnic and cultural association with it, especially if it has been 'lost' or 'conquered'. That has led ethnic nationalist movements within several diasporas, often resulting in the establishment of a

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...

homeland. However, even when they are established, it is rare for the complete diaspora population to return to the homeland, and the remaining diaspora community typically retains significant emotional attachment to the homeland, and the co-ethnic population there. Ethnic diaspora communities are now recognized by scholars as "inevitable" and "endemic" features of the international system, writes Yossi Shain and Tamara Cofman Wittes, for the following reasons: # First, within each of a diaspora's host states, resident members can organize domestically to maximize their political clout. # Second, a diaspora can exert significant pressure in its homeland's domestic political arena regarding issues of diaspora concern. # Lately, a diaspora's transnational community can engage directly with third-party states and international organizations, in effect bypassing its homeland and host state governments. Diasporas are thus perceived as transnational political entities, operating on "behalf of their entire people" and capable of acting independently from any individual state (their homeland or their host states).

Voting

Turkish diaspora

Hungarian diaspora

Slovak diaspora

Romanian diaspora

References