He tests the performance of these institutions through a statistical analysis of their relative efficiency in three broad fields. Evaluation of lijpharts model of consensus democracy the. Consociationalist theory served initially as an explanation of political stability in a few deeply divided european democracies. Lijpharts four conditions are absent in the consociational arrangements 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. Arend lijphart, 2000 sage journals sage publications. Corporate consociationalism predetermines power positions among ethnic and sectarian national groups, such as pre. Recent advances in consociational theory luther and deschouwer, 1999 have elaborated on the crucial role of segmental parties in consociational democracy. The views expressed in this book are those of the author alone. The easiest way to compare the two models is to contrast different countries that use them, for example by comparing switzerland, a consensus democracy, against britain, a majoritarian democracy. Integrative from pol s 6 at university of california, santa barbara. The theory, according to lijphart, focuses on the role of social elites, their agreement and cooperation, as the key to a stable democracy.
In the late 1960s, arend lijphart proposed ethnicbased. Arend lijphart defines consociational democracy as a model with four. Pdf consociational democracy in theory and practice. I replaced them with argentina, uruguay, and korea, which returned to democracy in the 1980s. The consolidation of the consociational democracy in lebanon. View consociational democracy research papers on academia. Consociationalism, a stable democratic system in deeply divided societies that is based on power sharing between elites from different social groups. The subject of this study is the consolidation of democracy in lebanon, described by arend lijphart as a consociational democracy. On the one side, advocates of consociational democracy contend that in societies that are deeply divided along ethnic lines, democracy can be realized only if the effects of majority rule are mitigated by institutional devices that require the concurrence of all groups in all major decisions and the delegation of decisions involving only the interests of particular groups to the groups in question. 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. Table 1 the characteristics of majoritarian democracy, consensus democracy, and consociational democracy adapted from lijphart 1984a, 1989a. Lebanon as a consociational democracy arend lijpharts consociationalism is the political theory most commonly applied to frag mented and multiconfessional societies.
Lijphart is the leading authority on consociationalism, or the ways in which segmented societies manage to sustain democracy through powersharing. Second, i extended the analysis from 1996 to 2010, which enix. 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. 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. 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. Pdf this chapter examines the development of consociational theory by arend lijphart and its implications for the case of cyprus. Theoretical, conceptual and methodological problems in. 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. Lijphart revisited patterns of democracy is not an adhoc establishment of a new theory but the result of decades of research.
Consociational democracy in deeply divided society. 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. 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 model predicts that political elites from different sects or subcultures despite not sharing similar values will agree and compro. Especially lijphart s original consociational democracy articles from the 1960s, and even some of his more recent publications 1990s. Accordingly, lijphart adopted the term consociational democracy. While lijphart himself condemned a consociational democracy for northern ireland as unrealistic in its initial stages, the political settlement in the region is today one of the key confirming cases of consociational theory. Sep 24, 2017 welcome to episode 2 of season 3 of real democracy now. 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. Arend lijphart, consociational democracy, world politics 21, no. Consociational democracy is the property of its rightful owner. 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.
This dissertation looks at democracy in lebanon, a country that has a pluralistic society with many societal cleavages. Books by arend lijphart author of patterns of democracy. Consociational democracy means government by elite cartel designed to turn a democracy with a fragmented political culture into a stable democracy. It argued that in these countries, the destabilizing effects of subcultural segmentation are neutralized at the elite level by embracing. 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. Introduction my ideal of democracy aligns closely to lijphart s model of consensus democracy, which i will be discussing at length in this essay. Powersharing and majority rule in theory and practice, london. The phenomenon lijphart was describing, however, was not new. Consociational parties and political accommodation in. It has been accepted for inclusion in dissertations and theses by an authorized. The comparative evidence shows convincingly that consociational and consensus democracy can make a vital contribution to democratic stability in deeply. I extract the core definition of consociationalism from lijpharts writ. You can support us by purchasing something through our amazonurl, thanks. Arend lijphart page absoliutnogo i otnositelnogo bolshinstva versus proporsionalnoe predstavitelstvo, oikoumene kharkov, ukraine, vol.
Ppt consociational democracy powerpoint presentation. Arend lijpharts most popular book is patterns of democracy. Project muse lijphart, lakatos, and consociationalism. Consociationalism is a form of power sharing in a democracy. 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. 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. Consociational democracy in multiethnic societies grin. 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. Evaluation of lijpharts model of consensus democracy. Lebanon as a consociational democracy arend lijphart s consociationalism is the political theory most commonly applied to frag mented and multiconfessional societies. 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. Arend lijphart, a profile volume 28 issue 4 peter gourevitch, gary jacobson. Welcome to episode 2 of season 3 of real democracy now.
Season 3 is looking at elections, electoral systems, electoral reform and alternatives. Proquest is another good way to get a hold of some of his stuff, especially the more recent work. Arend lijphart has 27 books on goodreads with 1662 ratings. Lijphart seeks to test which type of democratic institutions consensus or majoritarian performs most effectively. However, in various countries, such as lebanon and iraq, consociational democracy has yielded corporate forms of power sharing that have been referred to as. The consolidation of the consociational democracy in. Consociational democracy in multiethnic societies patrick bolte term paper advanced seminar politics political theory and the history of ideas journal publish your bachelors or masters thesis, dissertation, term paper or essay.
Consociational states are often contrasted with states with majoritarian electoral systems. Arend lijphart s most popular book is patterns of democracy. To date, political science research on consociational democracy is still most readily associated with lijphart. Im talking with professor arend lijphart about his. Implicitly, what seems to be at stake is less the democratic. Lijphart, as well as more recently with that of john mcgarry and rendan oleary. If anyone is at a university, a lot of the pertinent articles can be found on the jstor database. This research note will discuss the concept of consociational democracy in a constructive attempt to refine and elaborate almonds typology of democracies. Consociational democracy, arend lijphart, grand coalition, mutual veto, pro. Consociational democracy world politics cambridge core.
Democracy in plural societies yale university press. Political accommodation is achieved by cooperation among the elites of segmental parties that each represents a single segment of society. Lijphart presents his arguments in favor of consociational democracy. 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. Consociational democracy by arend lijphart summary extracts. In western europe, the track record of consociational democracy has been largely successful except perhaps in belgium. Lijphart s categorisation5 of divided societies and providing an alternative basis for assessment.
But in the present book, patterns of democracy, lijphart advocates consensus democracy a modified version of consociational demoracy as the ideal governance type for any state, not just deeply divided states. Patterns of democracy and its critics nilschristian bormann. The limitations of the consociational arrangements in iraq. 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 consultation among the elites of these groups. The aim, then, is to look at the divergent paths to democracy in former belgian africa as a vantage point for assessing the practical difficulties in implementing the lijphart model in contexts characterized by ignominious failure rwanda, reasonable hopes of success burundi, and problematic outcomes drc.
Mar 14, 2015 of lijpharts two models of democracy, i believe that the consensus model is the most effective and most democratic system to implement. 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. A focus on lijphart s work, since lijphart has been the primary advocate for consociational and consensus democracy. Almonds famous typology of political systems, first expounded in 1956, he distinguishes three types of western democratic systems. Pdf abstract consociational democracy as the goal and a tool in mitigating consociational democracy, arend lijphart, grand coalition, mutual veto, pro. As lijphart has developed his arguments over the past few decades, he has attracted numerous critics. Consociationalism synonyms, consociationalism pronunciation, consociationalism translation, english dictionary definition of consociationalism. Consociational democracy volume 21 issue 2 arend lijphart. After having assessed both the consociational and majoritarian models, understood the meaning of democracy and captured some of arend lijphart view, it is possible to give an answer. This is what lijphart calls consociational democracy. This dissertation is brought to you for free and open access.
Lijphart identifies four key characteristics of consociational democracies. Arend dangremond lijphart is a political scientist. The author is indebted to the institute of international studies, berkeley, for financial support. 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. Lijphart 9 normative values majoritarian westminster democracy goals government accountability and transparency of decisionmaking consociational democracy goals consensual decisionmaking, bargaining and compromise multiple parliamentary singleparty executives, effective opposition parties, vigorous parliamentary debate, and.
Consequently, a third favorable factor to interelite cooperation is a relatively low total load on the decisionmaking apparatus. Consociational democracy by arend lijphart summary. Arend lijphart is known for his works on comparative methods,1 electoral systems,2 and nonmajoritarian or powersharing democracy. Consociational democracy in multiethnic societies publish. Consociational democracy can be found in countries that are deeply divided into distinct religious, ethnic, racial, or regional segmentsconditions. If so, share your ppt presentation slides online with. 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.