ABSTRACT
Western European countries, Canada, and the United States are host to numerous minorities. These groups may identify themselves by their religion, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, and their immigrant status. Most are socio-economically and politically disadvantaged. As such, minority groups pressure their governments to accommodate their particular needs. Yet the responses of Western democracies to minority demands vary significantly. Some countries, like Britain, take a pluralistic approach and strive to accommodate minority needs. Others, such as France, pursue an assimilationist strategy and do not grant group rights. What is more puzzling is that government responsiveness to minority interests varies significantly even within countries. This presents an intriguing research problem; what explains the variation in government responsiveness to minority demands? In this chapter, we explore this puzzle by analyzing the factors that influence local government responsiveness to Muslim demands in London.
