Partition or Consocialism?

Résumé du document

Facing proliferating ethnic conflicts since the end of the Cold War (the most important ones being Rwanda and Yugoslavia)the international community needs to find new and efficient solutions to ensure peace between ethnic groups and give them political power in order to prevent new massacres and ethnic cleansings. Scholars have proposed many solutions, like ethnic separation (Kaufmann), consociation democracy (Lijphart, Andreweg), and reconstruction of ethnic identities (Brown, Gottlieb) or state building (Tilly). According to Kaufmann, the only right solution to ethnic conflicts is ethnic separation because it sets apart populations and therefore reduces opportunities for further combats and for ethnic cleansings (massacre or genocide). However, I will show in this paper that ethnic partition is clearly an undoable, even dangerous solution. Therefore, ethnic separation is neither an efficient nor a viable solution, and that consociation democracy is much more likely to succeed while being at the same time a much more comprehensive solution, since it allows the reconstruction of ethnic identities and reaches the goals of the state building theory.

Extraits

[...] How to set up consociationalism? Several features are needed, according to Andreweg: a grand coalition of the largest political parties, a mutual veto power given to each ethnic group, the autonomy of each social segment, and proportionality in the electoral system and in the distribution of public offices process. Establishing a consociational democracy is not only a less costly solution; it is also more efficient and, in essence, more durable. Conclusion Some scholars advocated alternative solutions to separation, like the reconstruction of ethnic identities or state building. [...]

[...] In this regard, is it pertinent to build a state based on an ethnic identity that has been reconstructed and made salient only by political debate? Pushing Tutsis to define themselves primarily as Tutsis and to live in a country reserved to Tutsis is encouraging a radicalization of ethnic groups and thus of ethnic competition, hatred and intolerance. The new ethnic state will define itself accordingly to this ethnic identity, and its minorities will be even more persecuted, as Muslim in India today. [...]

[...] Partition or Consocialism? Introduction Facing proliferating ethnic conflicts since the end of the Cold War—the most important ones being Rwanda and Yugoslavia—the international community needs to find new and efficient solutions to ensure peace between ethnic groups and give them political power in order to prevent new massacres and ethnic cleansings. Scholars proposed many solutions, like ethnic separation (Kaufmann), consociational democracy (Lijphart, Andreweg), reconstruction of ethnic identities (Brown, Gottlieb) or state building (Tilly). According to Kaufmann, the only right solution to ethnic conflicts is ethnic separation because it sets apart population and therefore reduces opportunities for further combats and for ethnic cleansings (massacre or genocide). [...]

[...] This democratization process has two main aspects: first, each ethnic group's elite must be part of the political debate and part of the decision making process, and second, democratic mechanisms of governance must be introduced and enforced to give political elites legitimacy. This is the purpose of consociational democracy. Even though ethnic groups will still be competing, the government by a cartel of antagonist elites will ensure stability in the society between the fragmented social segments, because elites, representing each social segment, will have to cooperate and to find compromises in order to govern efficiently. Why? [...]

[...] Moreover, Kaufmann is not clear about the political nature of the new state: according to him, demography is more important than sovereignty for the separation. But what kind of political power will be given to each ethnic part? He does not even clearly state what kind of separation he advocates: partition or secession? Will the new state be autonomous, or will it be dependent, and at which degree? What resources will it rely on to provide the population with services? These are questions of first importance for the survival of the new state, and for its legitimacy among the population. [...]