Aug 21, 2019 consociational democracy can be found in countries that are deeply divided into in particular by arend lijphart, and is used today as both an analytical and a. This chapter examines the development of consociational theory by arend lijphart and its implications for the case of cyprus. Later, lijphart extends the notion of consociational democracy to the patterns of democratic institutions, in general. Consociationalist theory served initially as an explanation of political stability in a few deeply divided european democracies. The end result of this corporate consociational division of power has been a self perpetuating capture of the state by a political sectarian elite that both lacks national accountability and undermines government commitment to the public good. The author is indebted to the institute of international studies, berkeley, for financial support. Chinese translation simplified characters, beijing, jilin publishing group.
Powersharing and majority rule in theory and practice, london, routledge, 2008. The consolidation of the consociational democracy in. Consensus democracy and the earlier concept of consociational democracy overlap considerably, but they differ in the degree to which they focus on formal institutions vs. Table 1 the characteristics of majoritarian democracy, consensus democracy, and consociational democracy adapted from lijphart 1984a, 1989a. Consociational democracy world politics cambridge core. Lijphart, as well as more recently with that of john mcgarry and rendan oleary. Reservations about the practicability of the consociational model, however, aboundand for good reason. In another instance he is of the view that consociational powersharing accords in democracies possess four central political principles of grand coalition, mutual veto, proportional representation and segmental autonomy lijphart, 1977.
Accordingly, lijphart adopted the term consociational democracy. Lijphart, lakatos, and consociationalism world politics. Friendly or cooperative association, as between groups or organizations. Consociationalism refers to power sharing by political elites in deeply divided societies as a means to achieve or maintain a stable democracy. Abstract consociational democracy as the goal and a tool in mitigating conflict in the third world has been frequently used during the last decades, especially in subsaharan africa. Lijphart posits that democracy and social peace can be secured in deeply divided societies if elites engage in accommodative behaviour and forsake centrifugal. Consociational democracy can be defined in terms of four characteristics. Consociationalism synonyms, consociationalism pronunciation, consociationalism translation, english dictionary definition of consociationalism. Consociational democracy in deeply divided society.
The main characteristics of the powersharing strategy arend lijphart began to examine democratic consociational systems in the late 1960s, coining the very term when making reference to the. Arend lijpharts 1969 article on consociational democracy was a compelling critique of prevailing theories of democratic stability and the launching pad for one of the most widely regarded research programs in contemporary comparative politics. Arend dangremond lijphart born 17 august 1936, apeldoorn, netherlands is a political scientist specializing in comparative politics, elections and voting systems, democratic institutions, and ethnicity and politics. Consociational democracy presupposes not only a willingness on the part of elites to cooperate but also a capability to solve the political problems of their countries.
The first, majoritarian or westminster democracy, is what most people immediate think of when they think of democracy. Consociational democracy by arend lijphart summary extracts. The term was further elaborated into a general classificatory concept by arend lijphart. Constitutional design 2000 december 911, 1999 arend lijphart. The consociational theory of arend lijphart beginning in the 1960s, the political scientist arend lijphart born 1936 proposed that countries like austria, belgium, netherlands, and switzerland in the late 1950s and early 1960s were not just exceptions to the continental or proportional model of parliamentary democracy but formed a category of their own he termed consociational. Pdf lijphart, lakatos, and consociationalism researchgate. Lijphart developed this concept in his first major work, the politics of accommodation, a study of the dutch political system, and further developed his arguments in democracy in plural societies. Aug 17, 2016 arend dangremond lijphart is a political scientist specializing in comparative politics, elections and voting systems, democratic institutions, and ethnicity and politics. It is this normative aspect of consociationalism that gives great significance to the hitherto unresolved debate between lijphart and daalder just how far. Consociational democracy can be found in countries that are deeply divided into in particular by arend lijphart, and is used today as both an analytical and a. Arend lijphart is known for his works on comparative methods,1 electoral systems,2 and nonmajoritarian or powersharing democracy.
Consociationalism is a form of democracy which seeks to regulate the sharing of power in a state that comprises diverse societies distinct ethnic, religious, political, national or linguistic groups, by allocating these groups collective rights. In the late 1960s, arend lijphart proposed ethnicbased. While it may be difficult to achieve and maintain stable democratic governments in countries with deep religious, ideological, linguistic, cultural, or ethnic cleavages, lijphart argues that it is not at all impossible. Lijphart then goes on to define proportionality as being a general principle of consociational democracy that applies not only to the electoral system but also to the composition of the public service and to the allocation of public funds 2000. Almonds famous typology of political systems, first expounded in i956, he distinguishes three types of western democratic systems. It argued that in these countries, the destabilizing effects of subcultural segmentation are neutralized at the elite level by embracing nonmajoritarian mechanisms for conflict resolution. He received his phd in political science at yale university in 1963, after studying at principia college from 1955 to 1958. Recent advances in consociational theory luther and deschouwer, 1999 have elaborated on the crucial role of segmental parties in consociational democracy. Consociationalism consociational democracy andeweg. Consociationalism, a stable democratic system in deeply divided societies that is based on power sharing between elites from different social groups the theory of elite cooperation. Consociational theorists tend to emphasize the nonmajoritarian attributes of power sharing, proportional representation, and multipartyism, whereas federal theorists stress the nonmajoritarian characteristics of strong bicameralism and rigid constitutions, in addition to federalism itself. Through the analysis of political systems in six continents, he demonstrates that what he calls consociational democracy can be successful in severely divided or plural societies. Powersharing and majority rule in theory and practice, london.
The consociational or powersharing model of governance advocated for divided societies like northern ireland has drawn intense scholarly interest lijphart 2004. The erosion of social cleavages in many consociational democracies. A focus on lijpharts work, since lijphart has been the primary advocate for consociational and consensus democracy. Consociational democracy can be found in countries that are deeply divided into distinct religious, ethnic, racial, or regional segmentsconditions usually considered unfavourable for stable democracy. Arend dangremond lijphart is a political scientist specializing in comparative politics, elections and voting systems, democratic institutions, and ethnicity and politics. The consolidation of the consociational democracy in lebanon.
A legislature elected by a simple majority of the voters governs, and voters throw the ruling party out if it governs poorly. Consociational democracy means government by elite cartel designed to turn a democracy with a fragmented political culture into a stable democracy. The challenges to democracy in lebanon by micheline germanos ghattas a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy in public affairs and policy disseratation committee. Aug 07, 2019 consociational democracy can be found in countries that are deeply divided into in particular by arend lijphart, and is used today as both an analytical and a. Arend lijphart page absoliutnogo i otnositelnogo bolshinstva versus proporsionalnoe predstavitelstvo, oikoumene kharkov, ukraine, vol. Moreover, consociationalism is the more suitable prescription for very deeply divided societies.
Democracy in plural societies yale university press. Yale university press, 1977 political science 248 pages. Examining thirtysix democracies during the period from 1945 to 2010, lijphart arrives at importantand unexpectedconclusions about what type of democracy works best. Pdf arend lijpharts 1969 article on consociational democracy was a compelling critique of prevailing theories of democratic stability and the. Consociational democracy is both highly contested in the academic literature and widely used by constitutional engineers working to reestablish democratic governance in deeply divided polities. Consociational democracy, arend lijphart, grand coalition, mutual veto, pro. Consociationalism is a model of consociational democracy, which is employed in countries that have a variety of different segmental groups broken down along social, political, ethnic, linguistic and racial lines as well as by religion or by regionnationality lijphart, 1977. Political accommodation is achieved by cooperation among the elites of segmental parties that each represents a single segment of society. A focus on lijphart s work, since lijphart has been the primary advocate for consociational and consensus democracy. Consociational theorists tend to emphasize the nonmajoritarian attributes of power sharing, proportional representation, and multipartyism, whereas federal theorists stress the nonmajoritarian characteristics of strong bicameralism and rigid constitutions, in. This work seeks to understand why elites in cyprus have been thus far unprepared to share power.
Legislative behaviour in the northern ireland assembly. Almonds famous typology of political systems, first expounded in 1956, he distinguishes three types of western democratic systems. Consociational democracy volume 21 issue 2 arend lijphart. Arend lijphart university of california, san diego the assignment that i was given by the organizers of this conference was not to write yet another paper on consociational or powersharing democracy, but to prepare an introductory overview of the general topic of constitutional design in the third wave. Consociational democracy cambridge university press. Renewed scholarly interest in democracy in divided societies in general and consociationalism in particular coincides with the wave of power. Consequently, a third favorable factor to interelite cooperation is a relatively low total load on the decisionmaking apparatus. Angloamerican political systems exemplified by britain and the united states, continental european political systems. On the one side, advocates of consociational democracy contend that in societies that are deeply divided along ethnic. Consociational parties and political accommodation in. Consociationalism in theory and practice springerlink. Season 3 is looking at elections, electoral systems, electoral reform and alternatives. Introduction my ideal of democracy aligns closely to lijpharts model of consensus democracy, which i will be discussing at length in this essay.
As a theory, it grew out of case studies of a number of european countries with peaceful democratic rule despite deep social cleavages. Legislative behaviour in the northern ireland assembly, 2007. Though it is not always clear in lijpharts writings, consociati. Consociational democracy, however, may also be viewed prescriptively, as a normative model, a criterion for evaluating political systems and a guide to future policy and action. Nov 20, 2018 consociational democracy presupposes not only a willingness on the part of elites to cooperate but also a capability to solve the political problems of their countries. For me, it is the ideal system because it is the most capable of maximizing the level of representation given to the widest possible amount of the electorate. Consociational democracy in multiethnic societies publish. Pdf consociational democracy in theory and practice.
Lijpharts definition of consociationalconsensus democracies from cultural aspects to institutional characteristics. The limitations of the consociational arrangements in iraq. Consociationalism definition of consociationalism by the. On the development of the concept of consociational democracy. It is this normative aspect of consociationalism that gives great significance to the hitherto unresolved debate between lijphart and daalder. Lijphart starts by differentiating between majoritarian and consensus democracy by asking the question who governs and in whose interest in cases of disagreement. Arend lijphart s 1969 article on consociational democracy was a compelling critique of prevailing theories of democratic stability and the launching pad for one of the most widely regarded research programs in contemporary comparative politics. Consociational power sharing and political equality in. Angloamerican political systems exemplified by britain and the united states, continental european political systems france, germany, and italy, and a third category consisting of.
Abstract five decades after the term consociationalism made its debut in the. Pdf abstract consociational democracy as the goal and a tool in mitigating consociational democracy, arend lijphart, grand coalition, mutual veto, pro. Lijphart university of leiden explores the functioning of democracy in countries with deep religious, ideological, linguistic, cultural, and ethnic cleavages and, contrary to conventional wisdom, commends consociational democracy as the suitable model to plural societies and to severely segmented societies of the third world. Welcome to episode 2 of season 3 of real democracy now. Lijphart is the leading authority on consociationalism, or the ways in which segmented societies manage to sustain democracy through powersharing. Political scientists define a consociational state as one which has major internal divisions along ethnic, religious, or linguistic lines, with none of the divisions large enough to form a majority group, but which remains stable due to. Consociational democracy can be found in countries that are deeply divided into distinct religious, ethnic, racial, or regional segmentsconditions. Consociational democracy by arend lijphart types of western democratic systems in gabriel a. Chapters 14 call our attention to two competing types of democracy. Consociationalism, a stable democratic system in deeply divided societies that is based on power sharing between elites from different social groups. Dec 30, 2015 consociationalism refers to power sharing by political elites in deeply divided societies as a means to achieve or maintain a stable democracy. Evaluation of lijpharts model of consensus democracy. The main characteristics of the powersharing strategy arend lijphart began to examine democratic consociational systems in the late 1960s, coining the very term when making reference to the political systems of scandinavian countries and of.
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