Consociationalism is the method of conflict resolution built on the idea that a democracy fractured by opposing political parties can stabilize itself by appointing a small group of intellectuals to govern the people. Another way to put it, according to Rupert Taylor, is that "consociationalism advances a system of consensual multi-ethnic power sharing as opposed to majority rule." In contrast, Scission attempts to resolve conflict by splitting hostile groups apart rather than by bringing them together. For the episode of the television series The Office, see Conflict Resolution (The Office episode) Conflict resolution or conflictology is the process of resolving a dispute or a conflict. ... A political party is a political organization subscribing to a certain ideology or formed around very special issues. ... Rupert Taylor is Associate Professor of Political Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. ... Tim Winton (born 1960) is an Australian novelist born in Perth, Western Australia. ...

Consociationalism was first formulated by Arend Lijphart to explain the democratic development in the Netherlands. The Netherlands was essentially the birthplace of Consociationalism, a nation divided into 4 non-territorial pillars: Calvinist, Catholic, Socialist and Liberal. In their heyday, each comprised tightly-organised groups, schools, universities, hospitals and newspapers, all divided along a pillarised social structure. The theory, according to Lijphart, focuses on the role of social elites, their agreement and co-operation, as the key to a stable democracy. Arend DEngremont Lijphart (b. ... Pillarisation (Verzuiling in Dutch, Pilarisation in French) is a term used to describe the way the Dutch and Belgians used to deal with their multicultural (but not multiethnic) societies. ... In an unadorned church, the 17th century congregation stands to hear the sermon. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of...

Goals

• Governmental stability
• Survival of arrangement - power sharing institution
• Survival of democracy
• Avoidance of violence

Violence refers to acts of aggression and abuse which causes or intends to cause criminal injury or harm to persons, and (to a lesser extent) animals and property. ...

Characteristics

• Grand coalition - Elites of each pillar come together to rule in the interests of society because they recognise the dangers of non-cooperation.
• Mutual veto - Mutuality means that the minority is unlikely to successfully block the majority. If one group blocks another on some matter, the latter are likely to block the former in return.
• Proportionality - Representation is based on population. If one pillar accounts for 30% of the overall society, then they occupy 30% of the positions on the police force, in civil service, and in other national and civic segments of society.
• Segmental autonomy - Creates a sense of individuality and allows for different culturally-based community laws.

Favourable Conditions

• Multi-axis balance of power - The presence of 3 or more disparate groups, all constituting minorities, yields equilibrium.
• Multi-party system - One party cannot impose its will to the exclusion of the others. Thus, it becomes necessary to build coalitions.
• Small size - The elite members of society are more likely to be familiar with each other within the context of a smaller society.
• Overarching loyalty - The disparate groups share a feeling of belonging to the same political environment.
• Segmental isolation - Close contact would mean a higher likelihood of conflict.
• Tradition of elite accommodation - Good environment created
• Leader-follower relationship - The elites are firmly in control and have the support of followers.

A multi-party system is a type of party system. ...

Criticisms

Brian Barry

Barry believed the claim that "policies of accommodation by segment elites explained stability in Holland" was tautological, since "accommodation" includes the requirement that elite leaders settle issues between polarized blocs. He believed that the requirements for consociational democracy were extensionally equivalent to those for stable democracy. "Lijphart’s definition of consociational democracy is too overloaded to do any substantial explanatory work". He believed that Switzerland, through the use of binding referenda and successful challenges to elite decisions, did not fit the consociational democracy model. He further believed that in the true examples of consociational democracy, Holland and Belgium, segments were not defined by ethnicity. "In Belgium the parties involved in consociational arrangements do not represent Flemish and Walloon sentiments." Brian Barry (born 1936) is a contemporary moral and political philosopher. ... A policy is a plan of action for tackling issues. ... Tautology refers to a use of redundant language in speech or writing, or, put simply, saying the same thing twice. Within the study of logic, a tautology is a statement that is true by its own definition. ...

Rinus van Schendelen

van Schendelen argued that Lijphart used evidence selectively. Pillarisation was "seriously weakening," even in the 1950s, cross-denominational co-operation was increasing, and formerly coherent political sub-cultures were dissolving. He argued that elites in the Netherlands were not motivated by preferences derived from the general interest, but rather by self-interest. They formed coalitions not to forge consociational negotiation between segments but to improve their parties' respective power. He argued that the Netherlands was "stable" in that it had few protests or riots, but that it was so before consociationalism, and that it was not stable from the standpoint of government turnover. He questioned the extent to which the Netherlands, or indeed any country labelled a consociational system, could be called a democracy, and whether calling a consociational country a democracy isn’t somehow ruled out by definition. He believed that Lijphart suffered severe problems of rigor when identifying whether particular divisions were cleavages, whether particular cleavages were segmental, and whether particular cleavages were cross-cutting. Pillarisation (Verzuiling in Dutch, Pilarisation in French) is a term used to describe the way the Dutch and Belgians used to deal with their multicultural (but not multiethnic) societies. ... The 1950s were a decade that spanned the years 1950 through 1959. ...

Lustick on Hegemonic Control

Control is considered hegemonic if it makes an overtly violent ethnic or national contest for state power either unthinkable or unworkable for subordinated communities. What is necessary is control of the relevant coercive apparatuses. Thus ethnic minorities in Fiji (after 1987), and South Africa (until 1990-1) were able to sustain hegemonic control because of their control of security and policing systems. In liberal democracies, hegemonic control appears less feasible than in authoritarian regimes. Liberal democracies with statist conceptions of citizenship permit, and indeed facilitate, nationalist or ethnic organisation and mobilisation. Ethnic contests for state power become eminently thinkable and workable within liberal democratic or open institutions. Consider how Irish nationalism was facilitated by the democratisation of the United Kingdom, or how nationalism was encouraged by glasnost in the Soviet Union. Hegemony (pronounced ) (greek:ηγεμονία) is the dominance of one group over other groups, with or without the threat of force, to the extent that, for instance, the dominant party can dictate the terms of trade to its advantage; more broadly, cultural perspectives become skewed to favor the dominant group. ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix Nationalism is an ideology that holds that (ethnically or culturally defined) nations are the fundamental units for human social life, and makes certain cultural and political claims based upon that belief; in particular, the claim that the nation is the only legitimate...

Other Criticisms

Critics point out that consociationalism is dangerous in a system of differing antagonistic ideologies, generally conservatism and communism. They state that specific conditions must exist for three or more groups to develop a multi-party system with strong leaders. This philosophy is dominated by elites, with those masses that are sidelined with the elites having less to lose if war breaks out. Consociationalism cannot be imperially applied. For example, it does not effectively apply to Austria or Switzerland. Critics also point to the failure of this line of reasoning in Lebanon, a country that reverted back to civil war. It only truly applies in Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, and Holland, and not in more deeply divided societies. If one of three groups gets half plus one of the vote, then the other groups are in perpetual opposition, which is largely incompatible with consociationalism. The antagonist is the character (or group of characters, or, sometimes an institution) of a story who represents the opposition against which the heroes and/or protagonists must contend. ... An ideology is a collection of ideas. ... Conservatism [derivative of conserve; from Latin conservare, to keep, guard, observe] is a philosophy defined by Edmund Burke as a disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve. Classical conservatism does not readily avail itself to the ideology of objectives. ... Communism refers to a conjectured future classless, stateless social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production, and can be classified as a branch of the broader socialist movement. ...

Consociationalism focuses on diverging identities such as ethnicity instead of integrating identities such as class, institutionalizing and entrenching the former. Furthermore, it relies on rival co-operation, which is inherently unstable. It focuses on intra-state relations and neglects relations with other states. It assumes that each group is cohesive and has strong leadership. Although the minority can block decisions, this requires 100% agreement. Rights are given to communities rather than individuals, leading to over-representation of some individuals in society and under-representation of others. Grand coalitions are unlikely to happen due to the dynamics of ethnic competition. Each group seeks more power for itself. Consociationalists are criticized for focusing too much on the set up of institutions and not enough on transitional issues which go beyond such institutions. Finally, it is claimed that consociational institutions promote sectarianism and entrench existing identities. Sectarianism refers (usually pejoratively) to a rigid adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination. ...

Positives

Problems of instability can be overcome by a system of rewards. In a consociational state, all groups, including minorities, are represented on the political and economic stage. Development of a coalition of leaders would lead to complete inclusion of the population in theory, related to unanimity and consensus. Consociationalism helped achieve peace and inclusiveness during the transition to democracy in South Africa. In South Africa, the elites recognised the potential for economic collapse and reformed the system.

External links

• "Les habits neufs du communautarisme libanais", on communitarian Lebanon and the experiment in postcolonial consociationalism.
• "What's Consociational Patriotism?". Consociational patriotism as national power-sharing and national self-determination, simultaneously; in the case of Iraq, as the alternative to conflicting perspectives -- Kurdish, Shi'i Arab and Sunni Arab.