Political Participation and Democracy in Europe: A Short Guide for Romani Activists
02 June 2004
More and more Roma are becoming moved by the desire to improve the situation of Roma in their town, city, country or in Europe, or even in the world as a whole. There are ever more Romani activists in Europe, seeking to bring about positive change for the benefit of the Romani communities. At the same time, when asked, many Roma frequently say they have "no power" - that their possibilities for influencing or changing the shape of their own lives are few or none. In a strict sense, this is not true - every person has some power. Some people have much more power than others, and at present, the vast majority of Roma exercise very little control over their own lives. However, there is always a difference between the amount of power a person or community has now, and the amount of power they can reasonably attain in the future. That is, everyone has potential power. In fact, in that there are millions of Roma in Europe, as a group, Roma have a very considerable amount of potential power. The question is how to increase the level of real power now exercised by Roma? This pamphlet offers a few ideas to Romani activists thinking about how to use effectively political processes to advance Romani interests - that is, to Roma who are thinking about trying to increase their power, for the benefit of the Romani community, by entering politics.
- Politikano le-thanipe/participacia e Rromengi thaj demokratia ande Europa: cikno sikavimasko lil pala e Rromane aktivistura (Romani)
- PARTICIPAREA POLITICĂ ŞI DEMOCRAŢIA ÎN EUROPA: UN SCURT GHID PENTRU ACTIVIŞTII ROMI (Romanian)
- ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЕ УЧАСТИЕ И ДЕМОКРАТИЯ В ЕВРОПЕ: КРАТКИЙ ПУТЕВОДИТЕЛЬ ДЛЯ ЦЫГАНСКИХ АКТИВИСТОВ (Russian)
- Politična participacija in demokracija v Evropi: Kratek vodič za romske aktiviste (Slovenian)
