“Ethnic groups are constructed social forms as opposed to organic entities that developed naturally over time. However, because human beings are tribal by nature, their primary loyalties lie with their perceived community – be it in ethnic group, tribe, or nation – for which they are very often willing to fight and die” and … the vast majority of violent conflicts in the last fifty years has taken place at the sub-state level. (Erin K Jenne “Ethnic Bargaining: The Paradox of Minority Empowerment:” 2007)
Nowhere has this been more true than in the ethnic cauldron that is former Yugoslavia. As result, novel governance mechanisms have had to be introduced in many places. For example, in Macedonia, where Macedonians are 64.2% of the population and Albanians only 25%, the latter have, inter alia, constitutional veto rights over laws affecting their culture, education, personal documentation, use of symbols, local self-government, local elections, local finance, boundaries of municipalities, etc. I will however here
