ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the contemporary background of 'cultural discontent' and the constitutional protection of minorities in some significant Asian and Latin-American experiences. It deals, first, with an attempt to introduce concepts such as ethnicity and multiculturalism in Asia, then it examines the influence of minorities on the state organisation and their protection. Post-colonial studies highlighted the common cultural and sociological fate of Asia and Latin America during colonialism, especially concerning the clash between the imposition of Western law and the ancestral beliefs of existing social groups. According to the scheme, India and the Philippines represent a mixture of subsidiary and hegemonic ethnic-based state, while Nepal, from being a hegemonic ethnicity-based state, is trying to shift towards the subsidiary model under the Constitution of 2015. The ethnic factor is one of the most pervasive elements of debate in Latin America, affecting the state-building options and the actual programmes of economic development of the region.
