Consociational democracy is a specific political model that implies power sharing. There are a lot of examples of the countries that live in accordance with consociationalism although all of them strive to avoid violence, save democracy, governmental stability, and power-sharing issues. Consociational democracy possesses four crucial elements, such as proportionality in the multi-party structure, grand coalition of the representatives of all groups in the government, decentralization that provides the country with a high degree of autonomy, and mutual or minority veto (Njoku 84).
Because of its functions and power-sharing initiatives, consociational democracy can be considered an effective conflict regulation model today. For example, during the conflict between Unionists and Nationalists in Northern Ireland, consociationalism appears to be the main approach to peacebuilding in the country. Ethnic violence, difference in religious and cultural background, intercommunal conflicts are the issues that consociationalism can solve, and Northern Ireland is a good example of it. Since 1972, the British government made the attempts to provide Northern Ireland with a power-sharing and consociational settlement which means a compromise between political elites and their followers. Due to these attempts, consociationalism can be considered the civil-society peacebuilding model that promotes intergroup contact and constructive conflict resolution approach (Byrne 328).
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Building a shared culture of peace is one of the most important tasks of consociational democracy. Northern Ireland demonstrates how the governments of different countries can work together to organize a power-sharing model, transforming the conflict in the country and building transparent, trusting, and open-minded relationships between both communities. Consociational democracy implies complementarity approaches at multiple levels, including cultural initiatives and integrated education, and these approaches appear to be especially effective in multi-ethnic regions. Consociationalism builds a proactive peace within the countries whose political elites are in conflict. The effectiveness of the power-sharing methods can be seen vividly in cooperation between the British and Irish governments in the 80s of the XX century.
- Byrne, Sean. “Consociational and Civic Society Approaches to Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland.” Journal of Peace Research, vol.38, no.3, 2001, pp.327-352.
- Njoku, Raphael Chijioke. “Deadly Ethnic Conflict and the Imperative of Power Sharing.” The Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, vol.43, 2005, pp. 82-102.
