ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the form of consultation championed by the Russian authorities: national cultural autonomy (NCA). It assesses the reasons for the limited effectiveness of NCAs in upholding minorities' participatory rights which, in turn, affects the exercise of their cultural rights. It then outlines the rationale for the establishment of NCAs in post-Soviet RussiaIt and examines the reasons for the limited guarantee of participation provided by this system: focusing on NCAs' internal structure, and subsequently on the environment in which NCAs operate. The NCA model, described by Karl Renner in his article State and Nation, is based on the personality principle, the idea that communities may be autonomous and sovereign within a multinational state, regardless of whether they have, or identify with, a particular territory. The NCA system is unequipped to satisfy the participatory rights of minorities in Russia, and, as such, to provide the means for minorities to effectively exercise their cultural rights.
