OBSERVARE

Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa

ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 7, Nº. 1 (May-October 2016), pp. 19-32

POWER-SHARING: CONCEPTS, DEBATES AND GAPS

Alexandre de Sousa Carvalho

ascarvalho@autonoma.pt

Doctoral student in Political Science at ISCTE-IUL (Portugal), Master's in African Peace and

Conflict Studies at the University of Bradford, England and graduate of International Relations

from the University of Coimbra. Associate researcher at the Centre of International Studies,

ISCTE-IUL and consultant at OBSERVARE-UAL

Abstract

Academic literature tends to reflect the two main objectives of power-sharing: promoting

the construction of sustainable peace and serving to structure the foundations for growth

and development of democracy in divided societies. reflecting this, two dimensions and

discourses of analysis and evaluation stand out: a classical dimension centred on power-

sharing as theory and a normative proposal for democracy in divided societies, and another

focused mainly on power-sharing as a meachanism of conflict management. This article

aims to introduce the reader to discussions about power-sharing, reviewing and critically

analysing power-sharing literature to show its gaps and tensions, as well as suggesting

some points where one can continue the debate.

Keywords

Power-sharing; "Consociationalism"; Structuralism; Peace; Democracy; Conflicts

How to cite this article

Carvalho, Alexandre de Sousa (2016). "Power-sharing: concepts, debates and gaps".

JANUS.NET e-journal of International Relations, vol. 7, no. 1, May-October 2016. Date of

last consultation [online], observare.ual.pt/janus.net/en_vol7_n1_art2

Article received on 16 February 2016 and accepted for publication on 8 March 2016

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Vol. 7, Nº. 1 (May-October 2016), pp. 19-32

Shares of power: concepts, debates and gaps

Alexandre de Sousa Carvalho

POWER-SHARING: CONCEPTS, DEBATES AND GAPS1

Alexandre de Sousa Carvalho

Power-sharing: Introduction

The scientific literature dedicated to power-sharing emerged in the late 1960s as a

normative proposal that aimed to provide democratic stability in divided societies2

through the accommodation and inclusion of political elites along with incentives for the

promotion of moderation and restraint. Driven mainly by the work of Arend Lijphart

(1969; 1977a; 1977b) who defines power-sharing as a "government cartel of political

elites"3 that, in essence, is

"a set of principles which, when carried out through practices and

institutions, provide each significant group in a society with

representation and decision-making capacities in general affairs

and a degree of autonomy on matters of particular importance to

their group" (Lijphart 1977a: 25).

The scientific literature on power-sharing corresponds, according to Horowitz (2005),

with the study of the political conditions in which violence in multi-ethnic societies

occurs and, therefore, the identification of requirements to manage and prevent such

conflicts. Therefore, they are studies of political “engineering” with a view to design an

inclusive and peaceful institutional framework in divided societies.

Power-sharing studies focus on structuring options of political systems that can manage

and combat the destructive potential of inter-communitarian divisions (or its

manipulation for political purposes). Timothy Sisk (1996: 5) defined the theory of

power-sharing as

1 The translation of this article was funded by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e

a Tecnologia - as part of OBSERVARE project with the reference UID/CPO/04155/2013. Text translated by

Thomas Rickard.

2 Divided society should be understood as a society that is multi-ethnic and, simultaneously, where

ethnicity as well as identity questions configure a politically salient division. Reilly (2001:4)

3 Originally, Lijphart (1969:216) wrote "[...] consociational democracy means government by an elite cartel

designed to turn a democracy with a fragmented political culture into a stable democracy.” The term

consociational was, as Liphart (2008:6) explains later, replaced by power-sharing.

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Alexandre de Sousa Carvalho

"a set of principles that, when carried out through practices and

institutions, provide every significant group or segment in a society

representation and decision-making abilities on common issues

and a degree of autonomy over issues of importance to the

group".

In theoretical terms, power-sharing allows the pacification of clashing groups involved

in historical antagonisms and discrimination, in order to enable the construction of just

and stable societies through more inclusive political representation. However, the way

power-sharing is achieved institutionally is variable and diverse (O'Flynn and Russell,

2005).

Thus, power-sharing theories must understand the study of structural conditions in

which violence in divided and multi-ethnic societies emerge, as well as the subsequent

institutional requirements to prevent such conflicts in a way that is democratically

sustainable and inclusive. Often named "constitutional engineering studies", power-

sharing theories have the objective of developing an institutional framework that

effectively combats the politics of ethnic exclusion of majoritarian models in plural and

polarised societies.

The dangers of tyranny of the majority

The different approaches of power-sharing theories − both in its dimension of

democratic theory as well as conflict management) − share a mutual recognition of the

limitations and dangers of (simple) majoritarian democracy in divided societies and

advocate the benefits of political engineering in order to define more inclusive

governance models that can mitigate latent conflicts. Both allude to the problems of

exclusion in majoritarian systems, such as distortions in political representation and/or

the potential of a "dictatorship of the majority", in which minority groups may be

permanently unable to obtain political representation or access to political power:

“[…] ethnic parties developed, majorities took power, minorities

took shelter. It was a fearful situation, in which the prospect of

minority exclusion from government underpinned by ethnic voting

was potentially permanent. ” Horowitz (1985: 629-630)

In the international context of the Second World War, newly independent countries had

a tendency to assume the same constitutional rules previously established by the old

colonial orders (Lijphart 2004). Power-sharing theories originated in this way, in

product and response to independence and the difficulties in implementing and

consolidating democratic processes in plural societies during the regression of the

second wave of democratisation (Huntington, 1991).

The main premise set out by proponents of power-sharing relates to the disadvantages

of the applicability of (simple) majoritarian democracy in divided and plural societies.

This assumption is based on an empirical assertion that, in plural societies with

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Alexandre de Sousa Carvalho

majoritarian political systems, some segments of society face potentially permanent

political exclusion from the electoral game. Larry Diamond (1999:104) summarises the

disadvantage of majoritarian models in divided societies, affirming that:

"If any generalisation about institutional design is sustainable (...) it is that

majoritarian systems are ill-advised for countries with deep ethnic, regional,

religious or other emotional and polarising divisions. Where cleavage groups

are sharply defined and group identities (and inter-group insecurities and

suspicions) deeply felt, the overriding imperative is to avoid broad and

indefinite exclusion from power of any significant group.”

In a majoritarian democracy, divided societies tend to perceive electoral competition as

a contest for possession and domination of the State and its resources, exacerbating

the adversarial dimension of politics as well as its conduct. This perception tends to

escalate during electoral periods, since access to political power can represent the

guarantee of protection of rights and political, economic and even physical survival.

Robert Dahl (1973) refers to the concept of “mutual security” and emphasises its

importance during electoral periods in ethnically divided societies, arguing that

elections, being the primary forum for inter-group competition, need a minimum level

of rights protection because a defeat in the electoral competition could pose a threat to

survival. This notion of mutual assurance is, according to Dahl, a prerequisite for

electoral competition in societies with deep divisions, and its absence underscores the

nature of the zero-sum game of 'winner-takes-all' − a naturally adversarial political

game.4 Atuobi (2008), in his analysis of electoral violence on the African continent,

states that electoral processes are moments where the stability and security of African

States is undermined due to the threat of electoral violence, whose state is such that

even elections considered fair and free are not immune to violence, before, during or

after.

According to the proponents of “power-sharing” (Lijphart 1969, 1977a, 1977b and

2008; Horowitz 1985 and 1993), majoritarian models of multi-ethnic societies carry the

risk of promoting the permanent exclusion of minorities from access to power (or

access to the decision-making process), leveraging a situation of "tyranny of the

majority" (where groups are permanently barred from the political decision-making

process because of their demographic weight). However, this does not mean that the

power-sharing model is anti-majoritarian, as Arend Lijphart explains (2008:12):

"Power-sharing democracy (of both the consociational and

consensus subtype) is often described as non-majoritarian, and

even anti-majoritarian or counter-majoritarian − and I have used

4 For the distinction between the adversarial nature of majority democracies and the “Coalescent” nature of

power-sharing systems, please see Lijphart (1977). An example of the adversarial nature of a majority

system can be observed in the main roots of conflict following the Kenyan general elections of 2007

(CIPEV, 2008), which deals with the history of several leaders and political elites, who exercised ethnic

identity manipulation through mobilising their respective segment of the electorate (Mbugua, 2008). The

adversarial nature of high-risk electoral competition and political conduct in Kenya was summed up in the

title of a book by Michela Wrong (2009): "It's our turn to eat."

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those terms myself, too. In fact, however, power-sharing does not

deviate much from the basic principle of majority rule. It agrees

with that fundamental premise that majority rule is superior to

minority rule, but it accepts majority rule as a minimum

requirement: instead of being satisfied with narrow decision-

making majorities, it seeks to maximise the size of these

majorities. The real contrast is not so much between majoritarian

and non-majoritarian but the between bare-majority and broad

majority models of democracy".

The concept of power-sharing is intrinsically linked to the concept of democracy: like

the democratic model, power-sharing seeks the inclusion of segments of society that

are excluded from the political decision-making process. The democratic model is

inherently considered as a fair and stable system of conflict management in post-war

contexts and/or divided societies (Lijphart, 1977a and 2008)5 for its capacity to

transform ethnic or group violence into participation and peaceful political competition.

Nevertheless, such a democratic claim does not imply that power-sharing is only

successful or unique to a democratic institutional framework: as an example, Milton

Esman (1986) recalls that the Ottoman Empire − whose population was predominantly

Muslim − accommodated non-Muslim communities for five centuries, guaranteeing

them a degree of autonomy, self-determination and self-management. Similarly, some

post-colonial autocratic African regimes have managed informally to balance the

executive among various groups, so that power (as well as its access) and resources

are distributed proportionally. Rothchild (1986) refers to these executives as

“hegemonic exchange regimes”, where a portion of State power and its resources are

shared proportionately among groups, which is crucial to ensure a degree of balance

and accommodation whilst controlling democratic freedoms (Rothchild, 1995).6

Two perspectives on power-sharing:

the no man's land between democratic theory and conflict management

The academic literature tends to reflect the two major objectives of the sharing of

power − i) to promote the construction of sustainable peace and ii) serve as a structure

for the foundation, growth and development of democracy in divided societies.

Reflecting this, two dimensions and discourses of analysis and evaluation tend to stand

out: a (classical) dimension centred on power-sharing along with a theory of democracy

for divided societies, and another focused mainly on power-sharing and conflict

management mechanisms.

5 Lijphart argues "Not only have non-democratic regimes failed to be good nation-builders, they have not

even established good records of maintaining order and peace in plural societies" (Lijphart 1977a).

6 Kenya during 24 years under the tutelage of Danial arap Moi is a good example of this proportional

attribution of governmental and executive positions to different ethnic groups, even when it was a one-

party State. The Kenyan government through several administrations often included representatives of

various ethnic groups in different administrations, although the vast majority of power has always been

entrusted to the ethnic group affiliated to the President (the most powerful position in the country's

political structure) (Ng'weno 2009).

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Power-sharing as democratic theory

The debate about constitutional engineering in democratic theory revolves around two

major philosophies: on the one hand, the theory of power-sharing, divided between the

"consociational" − accredited to the pioneering work of Arend Lijphart (1977a 1977b;

1969;; 1985; 1990; 1996; 1999; 2004; 2008) − and the "integrative" or "structuralist"

theory, which is more associated with Donald Horowitz (1985; 1990; 1991; 1993) and

Timothy Sisk (1996); and, on the other hand, an alternative developed by Roeder and

Rothchild (2005) of power-dividing7 in line with the political-institutional framework of

north American democracy. Hoddie and Hartzell (2005) raise caution, however, to the

question of effects of sequential transition from a conflict situation to one of democratic

peace through the mechanism/dynamic of power-dividing8.

The "consociational" theory as advocated by Lijphart defines four basic principles9, two

of central importance, and two other of secondary relevance (Lijphart 1996: 258-268;

2008: 3-32):

1. A Grand Coalition (i.e. an executive comprising of representatives of the main

religious and language groups);

2. Cultural autonomy to these groups (e.g., federalism; decision-making capacity on

matters pertaining specifically to a group, etc.)

3. Proportionality in political representation;

4. Possibility of a minority veto regarding vital rights of minority groups.

Lijphart stresses that the institutions and the conduct that will incorporate these

principles should be adopted according to the society. Given that each principle of the

"consociational" theory can be applied for different models and formats, Lijphart

recommends that this system includes the four basic principles. Lijphart also advocates

the superiority of parliamentary models before presidential models10 , as well as the

preference for proportional electoral systems at the expense of majoritarian systems

(such as the first-past-the-post model of Westminster). Although "consociational"

democracy is not incompatible with presidential systems, electoral majoritarian systems

and centralised governance structures, Lijphart considers that the most appropriate

constitutional structure is provided by parliamentary regimes, proportional

representation and, in the case of societies where there are geographical

concentrations of ethnic or religious groups, federalism. Lijphart (2008) sets out some

facilitative conditions favourable to "consociationalism":

 The absence of a solid majority who might prefer a majority system;

 Socio-economic inequalities (and to a lesser extent, linguistic and religious issues);

 Number of existing groups (complexity of negotiation);

7 For the purposes of brevity, this article does not focus on power-dividing and the evolution of the debate

about constitutional engineering in divided societies.

8 Initially increased measures of confidence (i.e. power-sharing institutions) are necessary, while the

consolidation phase of a democracy is dominated by issues of stability, meaning that institutions of

power-dividing are needed. To see more, please consult Roeder and Rothchild (2005)

9 The first version of the definition of power-sharing by Lijphart in 1969 only included the first feature. The

definition here is from his Indian case study of 1996, which contains a final formulation.

10 About the limitations of presidential systems, also see Linz (1994).

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 Dimension of these groups (balance of power and importance of non-dominance);

 Existence of external threats (that promote internal cohesion);

 Pre-existing alliances and loyalties;

 In the case of existing geographical concentrations of groups, federalism facilitates

segmental autonomy; and finally,

 Traditions of compromise and accommodation.

For his part, Horowitz (1985), through an "integrative" or "structuralist" approach11,

defended the adoption of five distinct mechanisms of the model presented by Lijphart

to reduce conflict in multi-ethnic societies, namely:

1. The dispersion of power, often territorially (decentralisation), in order to avoid the

concentration of power at a single point;

2. Devolution of power with the exception of certain places destined to have an ethnic

basis in order to promote inter-ethnic competition at a local level;

3. Interethnic cooperation incentives, such as electoral laws that promote pre-

electoral coalitions;

4. Regulatory policies that encourage alternative social alignments, such as class or

territory, thus the emphasis on cross-cutting social cleavages;

5. Reduce inequalities between groups by managing the distribution of resources.

It should be noted that some recommendations of Horowitz match Lijphart on certain

topics: e.g., both advocate the federal model and reveal the importance of

proportionality and ethnic balance. It is important, however, to take into account that

all of them (the models of power-sharing to power-dividing) are ideal conceptual

frameworks where empirical combinations of the three theories are possible.

Power-sharing as a mechanism of conflict resolution

"It is easy for you and me and many others to sit there, deliberate

and criticise power-sharing but there's a big elephant in the room:

if we did not have power-sharing in Zimbabwe and Kenya, flawed

as it is, what other option would we have had?" − Blessing Miles

Tendi

If the majority of scientific literature (classical theories in particular) on power-sharing

was being developed throughout the second half of the 20th century (especially in the

11 The classifications "integrative" and "structuralist" come from the criticism that Horowitz establishes,

which states that the "consociationalist" theory should stop punishing political radicalism, while its

proposal tends to reflect a promotion of moderation and cooperation in inter-group politics. Other

proponents of the "integrative" option: Reilly (2001); Sisk (1996).

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1970s and 1980s), the debate on power-sharing was resumed at the turn of the

century. However, this most recent literature is mainly focused on the sustainability of

power-sharing applied as resolution mechanisms or conflict management. Such a

resurgence has revealed new analyses concerning recent power-sharing that has, in

turn, pointed in the opposite direction to that which the classical theories have

defended. Indeed, several authors (Noel, 2005; O'Flynn and Russell, 2005; Spears,

2005; Hartzell and Hoddie, 2007; Jarstad, 2008; Mehler, 2009a and 2009b; Levan,

2011) argue that power-sharing has gone against classical literature and intended to:

 Drive anti-democratic and radicalised behaviour;

 Inhibit the transition from conflict management to conflict resolution by encouraging

extremism;

 Stifle internal diversity and its recognition in favour of community identities and

collective concerns;

 Show difficulty in recognising and dealing with cross-segmental identities;

 Left insufficient space for individual autonomy;

 Damage relationships of transparency and accountability;

 Increase the economic inefficiency of governments;

 Foster the conditions for government deadlocks and stalemates;

A. Carl LeVan (2011) focuses his attention to a three-dimensional analysis of power-

sharing:

1) its origin – extra-constitutional or coalition pacts produced by institutions;

2) its function – post-war scenarios or situations where the State runs less risk;

3) time horizon – dilemmas between long-term costs and short-term benefits.

Based on this conceptual framework, LeVan (2011) suggests that the trend of power-

sharing agreements achieved as a post-election conflict-resolution instrument, or in

order to avoid an even greater escalation of the conflict, could be undermining efforts

for promoting democracy on the African continent in recent decades ("peace before

process"). This type of agreement of an extra-constitutional origin − despite its recent

popularity, has however been encouraged in academia and policy-making not only in

peace promotion and conflict resolution, but also in democratic theory and promoting

alternative democratic models. Indeed, Anna Jarstad (2008) states that both currents

(democratic theory, on the one hand, and resolution or conflict management on the

other) can advocate power-sharing for distinctly antagonistic reasons, since one of the

dimensions has as its main objective the cessation of violence, and the other, the

building (or deepening) of a more inclusive and proportional democracy. Both are not

necessarily compatible, particularly when a power-sharing agreement is reached as an

alternative to elections, which reflects, as well, the lack of cohesion and holistic analysis

that the debate on the viability and sustainability of power-sharing still denotes:

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"In the conflict management discourse, power-sharing is seen as a

mechanism to manage the uncertainty in the peace process – if

need be, as a substitute for elections – while research based on

democratic theory treats power-sharing as a mechanism to foster

moderation and to improve the quality of democracy. This means

that researchers of both schools advocate power-sharing for war-

shattered societies, albeit for different reasons. However, the lack

of integration between the two discourses means that there is

limited knowledge of the long-term consequences of power-sharing

in societies emerging from war. “(Jarstad 2008:111)

Jarstad, Ian S. Spears (2005) states that power-sharing and democracy can be

compatible, since one does not substitute the other. Additionally, Spears also gives

clues to resistance on the part of political elites to implement power-sharing

agreements in post-conflict situations. This takes into account the structural problems

of many countries on the African continent – alluding to the importance of the debates

that the international relations literature has provided on issues of failed or weak States

and contemporary violent conflicts (often intrastate and informal in nature), the Third

World security predicament – but that the literature on power-sharing has neglected:

"Power-sharing has been repeatedly advocated as a method of

post-conflict governance in Africa. In virtually all cases, however,

the results have been the same: including power-sharing

agreements have been resisted by local leaders or, if accepted,

have rarely been fully implemented or adhered to over the long

term. Given this unimpressive record, it is remarkable that power-

sharing nevertheless continues to be the centrepiece of so many

African peace initiatives. To expect power-sharing to work in Africa

is to expect it to work under the most difficult conditions, and this,

in fact, is part of the problem. For the conditions of anarchy that

accompany civil war and state collapse often require solutions that

are prior to, or in addition to, power-sharing – or ones that exclude

power-sharing altogether." 12

Mehler (2009a) stresses, like LeVan (2011), the need to analyse power-sharing in

addition to mitigation analysis of the conflict, arguing that power-sharing should be

seen as a process and not as an event, citing the current example of success of

Burundi13, which after 20 years of trying was considered an example of failure.

12 Spears, Ian S. "Anarchy and the Problems of Power Sharing in Africa" in Sid Noel (ed.) From Power

Sharing to Democracy, Quebec: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005. Pp. 184-197.

13 See also Vandengiste (2009).

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Which way for the debate on power-sharing?

Classical theories of power-sharing focused primarily on permanent designs (though

not necessarily static) of institutional engineering for the political accommodation of

different groups in a divided society. The recent power-sharing literature has focused

mainly on power-sharing as a temporary mechanism in peace agreements in favour of

a security imperative, even if it is antagonistic to the democratisation efforts of prior

decades. However, little attention has been given to power-sharing as a dynamic

process with advances, setbacks and transitions.

The studies of “constitutional engineering” that propose the adoption of inclusive

policies for pluralistic, divided and/or in-transition societies have been developed since

the late 1960s. However, this type of political science has only recently begun to be

studied in relation to conflict of a third kind (Holsti, 1996), which are frequent on the

African continent despite the theme of contemporary intra-State conflicts being closely

linked to governance issues and the formation of States and their structural

(im)balances. The study of power-sharing agreements, particularly in the context of

Africa, gains increasing prominence as an instrument for analysis of the path of

democratic consolidation on the continent.

Power-sharing arrangements have succeeded in Africa in recent years (Mehler, 2009;

Levan, 2011). Mehler (2009) points to 17 countries of the African continent as having

had "meaningful" power-sharing agreements only between 1999 and 2009, while

Hartzell and Hoddie (2007) recall that, of 38 peace processes between 1945 and 1999

as a result of the negotiation to the end of civil wars, only one − the Gbadolite in 1989

− did not contain any element or norm of power-sharing. Over the years, several

African countries have had a history of experience in the field of constitutional

engineering to design and develop democratic institutional frameworks that have

tended to be more inclusive (e.g., Nigeria, Burundi); recent popularity, on the other

hand, seems to be focused mainly on the inclusion of power-sharing as a mechanism

for the management and prevention of violent conflicts through the negotiation of

peace agreements (Hartzell & Hoddie, 2007; Mehler, 2009). The African continent,

considering the amount of countries composed of multi-ethnic societies for which the

theories of power-sharing were initially designed and developed, as well as the

frequency of violent conflict and arising peace processes, it is fertile ground for the

emergence of these agreements.

However, in the vast literature on power-sharing, research agendas and analytical

approaches have focused almost exclusively on an institutional perspective and elites,

both in its latest dimension of mitigation and conflict management as in the classical

theoretical approach to power-sharing, as well as its normative political engineering

proposal for a permanent institutional structure based on the accommodation of

political elites. This has prevented a holistic and interdisciplinary analysis in studies on

the power-sharing and its consequences, especially in Africa where it has been

dominant since the end of the cold war.

It is especially surprising that, with the renewed academic interest on this topic, the

influence of the nature of political parties and party systems in power-sharing situations

and its dynamics and consequences are comparatively neglected to the detriment of

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the dominant top-down analysis 14. Even though political parties are one of the main

actors in any political system because of their ability to channel, aggregate and express

political wills − and stop power deadlocks for not only the management and resolution

of conflicts in societies in which they are placed, but also act as privileged agent in the

consolidation of democracy – power-sharing studies tend to keep their focus on small

groups of elites or national institutions with no major considerations for bottom-up

processes or tensions that exist among institutions, elites, political parties and

segments of society. The academic literature has been profuse in evaluating the

success or failure of power-sharing, but still pays little attention to the power-sharing

process, its dynamics and variations. For example, the transition to a dynamic

centrifuge in the first two years of power-sharing in Kenya (2008-2013) to the

centripetal dynamic of 2010 onwards is seemingly absent from academic literature that,

with all its conflicting conclusions, does not offer great insights to explain the mutations

that have been experienced by the Unity Government in Kenya. If there is something

that the proposed power-sharing theories suggest, it is that their discourse − with all

its ability to empower and give visibility, selection and legitimation − is not enough to

understand all the variables, dynamics and relevant actors15 to determine success or

failure.

Finally, the absence of more interdisciplinary analysis (even in sub-fields of Political

Science and International Relations where it comes from) of power-sharing has meant

that the debate on its merits and disadvantages for the promotion and consolidation of

democracy and peace remain inconclusive. Perhaps, however, there is a more relevant

matter that has been entirely absent from the debate: what kind of peace and

democracy has power-sharing promoted?

References

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and Societal Challenges in the Horn of Africa: conflict and processes of state formation,

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Cheeseman, Nic; and Tendi, Blessing-Miles (2010). “Power Sharing in Comparative

Perspective: The Origins and Consequences of ‘Unity Government’ in Africa”, Journal of

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lence.pdf]

14 Some exceptions must be mentioned: Reilly and Nordlund, 2008; Shah, 2009; Cheeseman and Tendi,

2010; 2013 Carvalho.

15 One of the few references about the important role that the Kenyan civil society played in the power-

sharing agreement and the implementation of its mandate can be read in Ghai and Ghai (2010).

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Dahl, Robert [ed.] (1973). Regimes and Oppositions, New Haven: Yale University Press.

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