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. He is the author or editor of more than a dozen books, with the two editions of his patterns. Consociational democracy means government by elite cartel designed to turn a democracy with a fragmented political culture into a stable democracy. 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. 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. Lijphart, an optimist concerning the spread of democracy to the nations of the third world, sets forth in this wideranging study the theory of consociational democracy to accomplish that goal.
Daalder, the consociational democracy theme, world. 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. Moreover, consociationalism is the more suitable prescription for very deeply divided societies. Lijphart, lakatos, and consociationalism semantic scholar. Lijphart, cons ociational democracy, world politics, vol 21, nr. American government in a thirtyonecountry perspective with steven l. Consociational democracy as a tool for conflict resolution. According to huneeus 1985, spanish politics after the transition to democracy was consociational at the systemic. I thought it was approachable and relatively wellwritten. View consociational democracy research papers on academia. Almonds typology derives its theoretical significance from the relationship it establishes between political culture and social structure on the one hand and political stability. Consociational democracy world politics cambridge core. According to the theory of crosscutting cleavages, one would expect the low countries, switzerland, and austria, with subcultures divided from each other by mutually reinforcing cleavages, to exhibit great immobilism and instability.
However, lijphart and others who adopted consociational approaches encountered severe logical. Lijphart argued that consociational democracy was the most appropriate form of government for the region, but was then pessimistic about its prospects. While his power sharing model has been widely criticized, it is also being adopted in countries as diverse as the netherlands, india, austria, south africa, and malaysia. Pdf consociational democracy in theory and practice. The favourable factors for the establishment and maintenance of consociational democracy are among the most contested elements of consociationalism. Patterns of democracy is a foundational work in politics, especially comparative, and it was one of the most helpful books i invested in for my first term of politics at university. Consociational parties and political accommodation in. On the development of the concept of consociational democracy. Majority rule versus democracy in deeply divided societies. Lijphart is the leading authority on consociationalism, or the ways in which segmented societies manage to sustain democracy through powersharing. Consociational democracy, arend lijphart, grand coalition, mutual veto, pro. The favourable factors for consociational democracy.
Arend lijphart claimed that consociational democracy essentially is an agreement among the leaders of each bloc in a divided society to share government, involving grand coalition, segmental. 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. Wp celebrated its 50th anniversary with the october 1997 issue. In the late 1960s, arend lijphart proposed ethnicbased. May 26, 2008 arend lijphart is best known for his theory of consociational or power sharing democracy, which enables the peaceful governance of deeply divided societies. Edited volumes books and special issues of journals world politics. The consolidation of the consociational democracy in. View notes lijphart from poli 212 at mcgill university. Theories of consociational democracy and of conflict regulation are used in this.
Democracy in plural societies yale university press. Renewed scholarly interest in democracy in divided societies in general and consociationalism in particular coincides with the wave of power. Examining thirtysix democracies during the period from 1945 to 2010, lijphart arrives at importantand unexpectedconclusions about what type of democracy works best. Arend lijphart is best known for his theory of consociational or power sharing democracy, which enables the peaceful governance of deeply divided societies. In todays world, the protection of individual rights in terms of negative liberty. He received his phd in political science at yale university in 1963, after studying at principia college from 1955 to 1958. Consociational principles had already been evident in the illfated sunningdale agreement of 197374, widely known locally and accurately as a powersharing experiment.
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. 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. While his power sharing model has been widely criticized, it is also being adopted in countries as diverse as the netherlands, india, austria, south. Arend lijphart is known for his works on comparative methods,1 electoral systems,2 and nonmajoritarian or powersharing democracy. Pdf lijphart, lakatos, and consociationalism researchgate. Consociationalism in theory and practice springerlink.
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. According to huneeus 1985, spanish politics after the transition to. This willwritten work, containing a wealth of information on politics of many diverse nations is highly recommended for academic libraries. Pdf arend lijpharts 1969 article on consociational democracy was a. Consociational democracy by arend lijphart summary extracts. 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. 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. Illustration manual by the national commission on the parliamentary.
The bestresearched book on democracy in the world today. Introduction my ideal of democracy aligns closely to lijpharts model of consensus democracy, which i will be discussing at length in this essay. Trustees of princeton university university of pennsylvania. Almonds famous typology of political systems, first expounded in 1956, he distinguishes three types of western democratic systems. This is what lijphart calls consociational democracy.
Table 1 the characteristics of majoritarian democracy, consensus democracy, and consociational democracy adapted from lijphart 1984a, 1989a. Renske doorenspleet is associate professor in comparative politics at the. Consociational theory challenges the two paradigmatic notions that democracy should be equated with majority rule and that democracy is not a viable form of government in deeply divided societies. Lijphart, lakatos, and consociationalism world politics. Aug 17, 2016 arend dangremond lijphart is a political scientist specializing in comparative politics, elections and voting systems, democratic institutions, and ethnicity and politics. Political scientists and others turn to world politics to stay on top of the latest theoretical developments in the field. These deviant cases of fragmented but stable democracies will be called consociational democracies. Evaluation of lijpharts model of consensus 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. Arend lijphart on sharing power in africa and the future. Consociational democracy can be found in countries that are deeply divided into distinct religious, ethnic, racial, or regional segmentsconditions. Consociational democracy in deeply divided society.
Pdf abstract consociational democracy as the goal and a tool in mitigating consociational democracy, arend lijphart, grand coalition, mutual veto, pro. The consolidation of the consociational democracy in lebanon. The first of lijpharts seminal works is consociational democracy, world politics 21 october 1969. Its four principal characteristics stand in sharp contrast with majoritarian principles. Lijphart democratic political systems types cases causes. Consequently, a third favorable factor to interelite cooperation is a relatively low total load on the decisionmaking apparatus.
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. 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. 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. Lijpharts definition of consociationalconsensus democracies from. Shugart, and bernard grofman, new haven, yale university press, 2014.
A look at the failure of peace in burundi through the lens of arend lijpharts theory of consociational democracy, journal of modern african studies, vol. Consociationalism in lebanon abstract should lebanon abandon the consociational democratic system. Political accommodation in segmented societies, carleton library, no. Consociationalism was developed by lijphart 1969, 1975, 1977 as a theory of political. Abstract consociational theory challenges the two paradigmatic notions that democracy should be equated with majority rule and that democracy is not a viable form of government in deeply divided societies. Arend lijphart on sharing power in africa and the future of. Consociationalism, a stable democratic system in deeply divided societies that is based on power sharing between elites from different social groups. 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. Daalder, the consociational democracy theme, world politics, vol. His field of specialisation is comparative politics.
The basic purpose of the work is to explore the nature of consociational systems of government in stable western democracies and to investigate whether these provide a good blueprint that. This is a thorough, technical and theoretical exploration of what lijphart terms consociational democracy as a form of democracy suited to plural societies. The writings of theorists and practitioners, classical and modern, boston, allyn and. Consociationalism in lebanon university of pennsylvania. In the late 1960s the standard model of democratic systems was the anglosaxon majoritarian or westminster type andeweg. This paper attempts to answer the question by examining the pathologies of the current system and then evaluating its strengths, weaknesses, and potential for reform. This matters especially for the nonwestern world, as the bibliographies in lijphart 1977 and bogaards 2014 show. Arend lijphart, consociational democracy, world politics 21 january 1969. Patterns of democracy and its critics nilschristian bormann.
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. Here, once again, arend lijphart is directing our attention to matters which will surely engage much of the attention of students of comparative politics in the next. Evaluation of lijpharts model of consensus democracy the. 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. 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 limitations of the consociational arrangements in iraq. The alternative to majoritarian democracy is consociational democracy. Angloamerican political systems exemplified by britain and the united states, continental european political systems france, germany, and italy, and a third category consisting of. There is not too much jargon and lingo being thrown around which a beginner like me appreciated.
Nov 20, 2018 this research note will discuss the concept of consociational democracy in a constructive attempt to refine and elaborate almonds typology of democracies. The consociational democracy theme, world politics 264. A look at the failure of peace in burundi through the lens of arend lijpharts theory of consociational democracy, journal of. The trajectory of the consociational research program, as inaugurated by arend lijphart s 1969 article in world politics, consociational democ. 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. The debate over the former is provoked by the inductive character. The author is indebted to the institute of international studies, berkeley, for financial support. Types, cases, causes and consequences by arend lijphart introduction this article is an elaboration on the. Arend dangremond lijphart is a political scientist specializing in comparative politics, elections and voting systems, democratic institutions, and ethnicity and politics. Consociational democracy volume 21 issue 2 arend lijphart. 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.
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