Democracies within which ethnic, indigenous, religious or national minorities exist tend to impose on them the majority’s values and to neglect their needs. Minority groups respond with claims for equality, for fair representation in the political process, and for autonomy. The seminar will discuss the challenge of accommodating the rights and needs of minority groups within the liberal state. The challenges include philosophical questions, such as the justification for imposing liberal values on illiberal groups; institutional questions, such as the possibilities for power-sharing arrangements; and legal questions involving national and international litigation to protect minority rights. The course will address these questions, review several minority protection regimes and examine the status of minority rights under American, comparative and international law. The course will be offered during four weeks starting the week of January 14, 2002. Students can choose either a take-home exam (at the end of the term) or a paper on a topic approved by the professor.