Patterns of democracy patterns of democracy living. Consociational democracy can be found in countries that are deeply divided into distinct religious, ethnic, racial, or regional segmentsconditions. The debate concerns both the favourable factors themselves and their status. The factors representing characteristics of consociational democracy include its advantages, disadvantages and structure such as external threats, segment isolation also no single person rule, power and decision making localized, stability. 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. Typologies of democratic systems abend lijphart, 1968. Yale university press, 1977 political science 248 pages. The book also contains an entirely new introduction and conclusion where professor lijphart assesses the development of his thought and the practical impact it has. Concentration versus sharing of executive power 90 7 executivelegislative relations. He claims that the power sharing model is the only model able to be adopted by divided societies. 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. Presents a study which investigated the claims of arend lijphart that switzerland is a case of consociational democracy.
His four main examples of western consociational democracy are the netherlands, belgium, switzerland and austria, though he notes considerable consociational elements in canada and israel. Low voter turnout is a serious democratic problem for five reasons. From this perspective, i reassess the relevance of arend lijpharts prescriptions about democratizing states to constitutional engineers, by investigating his claims within the postcommunist context. Arend lijpharts 1999 effort in patterns of democracy may be overstretching, both empirically and theoretically. Consociational parties and political accommodation in. It is this normative aspect of consociationalism that gives great significance to the hitherto unresolved debate between lijphart and daalder. Arend lijphart is known for his works on comparative methods,1 electoral systems,2 and nonmajoritarian or powersharing democracy. Based on a factor analysis, our main finding is that there are not just two, but three dimensions of. The author is indebted to the institute of international studies, berkeley, for financial support. 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. He followed up with further studies of political stability in cases of socially severely fragmented societies, eventually leading to his groundbreaking work democracy in plural societies lijphart 1977. Another important fact that should not be missed is the different variations or government types similar to consociational democracy.
Consociational democracy volume 21 issue 2 arend lijphart. Legislative behaviour in the northern ireland assembly. 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. Books by arend lijphart author of patterns of democracy. Journal of democracy, volume 2, number 1, winter 1991, pp. These both seem like reasonable explanations, but i really felt this deserved more attention. Lijphart s article discusses constitutional design and government organization in regards to divided societies in which he recommends a consociational model in which political institutions share power among different identity groups. The phenomenon lijphart was describing, however, was not new. Arend lijphart is best known for his theory of consociational or power sharing democracy, which enables the peaceful governance of deeply divided societies. Lijphart 1999 makes a distinction between consensus and majoritarian democracy.
The phenomenon lijphart was describing, however, was not. The limitations of the consociational arrangements in iraq. Lijphart, lakatos, and consociationalism world politics. The debate over the former is provoked by the inductive character. Democracy in plural societies yale university press. In recent years, it has become a major demand of israeli arabs. Pdf iceland and the nordic model of consensus democracy. Consociationalism, a stable democratic system in deeply divided societies that is based on power sharing between elites from different social groups. 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. Lijphart revisited patterns of democracy is not an adhoc establishment of a new. Democracy in plural societies is a useful addition to the literature on democratic conflict regulation.
Arend lijpharts most popular book is patterns of democracy. Consociational theory sometimes is equated with the publications of its most influential scholar, arend lijphart. Consequently, a third favorable factor to interelite cooperation is a relatively low total load on the decisionmaking apparatus. Arend lijphart page absoliutnogo i otnositelnogo bolshinstva versus proporsionalnoe predstavitelstvo, oikoumene kharkov, ukraine, vol. His efforts remind us that nonmajoritarian democracy is at least as legitimate as the majoritarian model, and may perform even better in many ways. 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.
Theoretical, conceptual and methodological problems in. Angloamerican political systems exemplified by britain and the united states, continental european political systems. The institutional dynamics of consensus and conflict vu research. Pdf lijphart las democracias contemporaneas 1987 free. This is a thorough, technical and theoretical exploration of what lijphart terms consociational democracy as a form of democracy suited to plural societies. Angloamerican political systems exemplified by britain and the united states, continental european political systems france, germany, and italy, and a third category consisting of. Introduction my ideal of democracy aligns closely to lijpharts model of consensus democracy, which i will be discussing at length in this essay.
Almonds famous typology of political systems, first expounded in i956, he distinguishes three types of western democratic systems. View consociational democracy research papers on academia. The consolidation of the consociational democracy in. Download lijphart las democracias contemporaneas 1987. It is an indispensable work for all students of democracy and comparative politics, in part because it provides a frank and fascinating portrait of how the concepts. 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. Political accommodation is achieved by cooperation among the elites of segmental parties that each represents a single segment of society. 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. Consociationalism is a form of democracy which seeks to regulate and stabilize a society comprised of diverse groups. Constitutional design 2000 december 911, 1999 arend lijphart.
Recent advances in consociational theory luther and deschouwer, 1999 have elaborated on the crucial role of segmental parties in consociational democracy. Chapters 14 call our attention to two competing types of democracy. Macrae 1997 distinguishes adversarial versus consensual politics. By expanding lijpharts concept of majoritarian and consensus democracy for the most recent period 19972006, this paper examines the relationship between direct democracy and lijpharts institutional variables in 23 modern democracies. Pdf abstract consociational democracy as the goal and a tool in mitigating consociational democracy, arend lijphart, grand coalition, mutual veto, pro. One of the most striking features of the book is the manner in which lijphart divides the book into 10 areas of inquiry e. Article information, pdf download for democratic political systems, open epub for.
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. Eight characteristics of nonmajoritarian democracyor consensus democracycan be identified. Consociational power sharing and political equality in. The 1960 cyprus republic, which had a bicommunal powersharing system, could not have lasted for long and it turned from consociational democracy to majoritarian in 1963 after ethnic conflict. Consociational democracy by arend lijphart summary extracts. Consociational democracy world politics cambridge core. 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. Evaluation of lijpharts model of consensus democracy the. 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 decade. He received his phd in political science at yale university in 1963, after studying at principia college from 1955 to 1958. The present article reveals that lijpharts two dimensional map of democracy, although applicable. 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. Democracy s unresolved dilemma presidential address, american political science association, 1996 volume 91 issue 1 arend lijphart skip to main content accessibility help we use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. In this updated and expanded edition of his classic text, arend lijphart offers a broader and deeper analysis of worldwide democratic institutions than ever before.
Renewed scholarly interest in democracy in divided societies in general and consociationalism in particular coincides with the wave of power. Arend lijphart has 28 books on goodreads with 1783 ratings. 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. Table 1 the characteristics of majoritarian democracy, consensus democracy, and consociational democracy adapted from lijphart 1984a, 1989a. Examining thirtysix democracies during the period from 1945 to 2010, lijphart arrives at importantand unexpectedconclusions about what type of democracy works best. Ucds role has to be understood in the context of the transition to democracy, not in the context of political accommodation in an ethnoplural society. 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. Features of consociational democracy consociational. This revision of lijphart s classic democracies is a firstrate survey of 36 democracies, which focuses on the relationships between a number of political variables. Thinking about democracy is the definitive collection of four decades of work on the powersharing model of democracy by its most important analyst and advocate, arend lijphart. Consociationalism an overview sciencedirect topics. Almonds famous typology of political systems, first expounded in 1956, he distinguishes three types of western democratic systems. Lijphart is the leading authority on consociationalism, or the ways in which segmented societies manage to sustain democracy through powersharing.
The structure of consociational democracy is also extremely significant in the study of this form of. 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. Lijphart starts by differentiating between majoritarian and consensus democracy by asking the question who governs and in whose interest in cases of disagreement. Powersharing and majority rule in theory and practice, london. 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. Forms, performance, and constitutional engineering. 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. Characteristics of consociational democracy advantages. Consociational democracy means government by elite cartel designed to turn a democracy with a fragmented political culture into a stable democracy. Arend lijphart has made a great contribution to our understanding of nonmajoritarian democracy i. Logical connections and institutional design article pdf available in political studies 511. 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.
The favourable factors for the establishment and maintenance of consociational democracy are among the most contested elements of consociationalism. Pdf the nordic countries including iceland have been. 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. The article pays tribute to professor arend lijphart, pioneer in the studies of democracy. Pdf examining the favourable factors for consociational. 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.
Arend lijpharts typology of democratic systems has been one of the major contributions to. The favourable factors for consociational democracy. Lijphart presents his arguments in favor of consociational democracy. Pdf the analysis of favourable factors for establishment and maintenance of. The consociational model comparative government and politics. The first, majoritarian or westminster democracy, is what most people immediate think of when they think of democracy. These features of consociational democracy give us an insight into its definition, its characteristics, its origination, how it has been applied as a governance by many nations worldwide, etc. 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.
Pdf consociational democracy in theory and practice. Arend lijpharts patterns of democracy 1999 has been a very influential book in comparative politics. Accordingly, lijphart adopted the term consociational 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. Lijphart famously distinguished four basic components of consociational democracy. Consociational democracy and the case of switzerland. Legislative behaviour in the northern ireland assembly, 20072011. Thinking about democracy draws on a lifetimes experience of research and publication in this area and collects together for the first time his most significant and influential work. The theory is used empirically to explain stable democracy in deeply divided societies e. Consociational democracy is based on proportional representation and as a type of democracy it is contrasted with centripetal democracy, which is based upon majority rule.
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. 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. A legislature elected by a simple majority of the voters governs, and voters throw the ruling party out if it governs poorly. The consolidation of the consociational democracy in lebanon. Arend lijphart s patterns of democracy has become a standardized text within the comparative politics subfield, but i think the question needs to be asked given all the divergence in regime type that sprouted with the downfall of the soviet union, is the pure westminster system still a viable starting point for analyzing the points of democratic governance. Nov 17, 2008 in patterns of democracy, arend lijphart 1999 not only contends that democratic institutions cluster in two distinct forms, but also that consensus democracieswhen contrasted with majoritarian arrangementsare kinder, gentler types of institutional settings lijphart 1999. For plural societies, he suggested ethnicbased consociationalism as a form of governance defined as a.
327 750 160 1491 1648 892 1624 41 716 275 418 1299 1128 961 20 180 759 1333 1133 500 550 644 575 1240 730 1227 1102 372