162 PROMOTING AND PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS 44. Effective participation requires representation in legislative, administrative and advisory bodies and more generally in public life. Persons belonging to minorities, like all others, are entitled to assemble and to form their associations and thereby to aggregate their interests and values to make the greatest possible impact on national and regional decision-making. They are entitled not only to set up and make use of ethnic, cultural and religious associations and societies (see commentary to article 2.4 below), but also to establish political parties, should they so wish. In a well-integrated society, however, many persons belonging to minorities often prefer to be members of or vote for parties which are not organized on ethnic lines but are sensitive to the concerns of the minorities. 45. Where minorities are concentrated territorially, single-member districts may provide sufficient minority representation. Proportional representation systems, where a political party’s share in the national vote is reflected in its share of the legislative seats, may assist in the representation of minorities. Some forms of preference voting, where voters rank candidates in order of choice, may also facilitate minority representation and promote inter-communal cooperation. 46. Decentralization of powers based on the principle of subsidiarity, whether called self‑government or devolved power, and whether the arrangements are symmetrical or asymmetrical, would increase the chances of minorities to participate in the exercise of authority over matters affecting themselves and the entire society in which they live. 47. Public institutions should not, however, be based on ethnic or religious criteria. Governments at local, regional and national levels should recognize the role of multiple identities in contributing to open communities and in establishing useful distinctions between public institutional structures and cultural identities. 48. States should also establish advisory or consultative bodies involving minorities within appropriate institutional frameworks. Such bodies or round tables should be attributed political weight and effectively consulted on issues affecting the minority population. 49. There should be equal access to public sector employment across the various ethnic, linguistic and religious communities. 50. Citizenship remains an important condition for full and effective participation. Barriers to the acquisition of citizenship for members of minorities should be reduced. Forms of participation by resident non‑citizens should also be developed, including local voting rights after a certain period of residence and inclusion of elected non-citizen observers in municipal, regional and national legislative and decision-making assemblies. 2.4 Persons belonging to minorities have the right to establish and maintain their own associations. 51. Persons belonging to minorities are entitled, in the same way as other members of society, to set up any association they may want,12 including educational or religious institutions, but their right to association is not limited to concerns related to their cultural, linguistic or religious identity. The right to associate of persons belonging to minorities extends both to national and to international associations. Their right to form or join associations can be limited only by law and the limitations can only be those which apply to associations of majorities: limitations must be those necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals, or the protection of rights and freedoms. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 20; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 22. 12