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Consociationalism as the Concept of Political System

100%
Jelonek A. W.
Studia Polityczne (Political Studies)
|
2004
|
issue 16
229-254
EN
Some of the most difficult issues facing established and new democracies concern the management of an ethnic conflict. Ethnic identities provide an affective sense of belonging and are socially defined in terms of their meaning for the actors, representing ties of blood, soil, faith, and community. Agencies concerned with the peaceful amelioration of such antagonisms have increasingly turned towards 'constitutional engineering' or 'institutional design' to achieve these ends. The aim has been to develop rules of the game structuring political competition so that actors have in-built incentives to accommodate the interests of different cultural groups, leading to conflict management, ethnic cooperation, and long-term political stability. This article draws attention to one of the most influential accounts in the literature that has been provided by the theory of 'consociational' democracy developed by Arend Lijphart, which suggests, that nations can maintain stable governments despite being deeply divided into distinct ethnic, linguistic, religious, or cultural communities. The article reviews and analyzes the approach taken by Lijphart and other researchers of consociational idea. After reviewing the major definitional aspects of consociationalism the article traces the practical development of the model over time and the breakdowns of the consociational concept in confrontation with the political reality.
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RACIAL DIFFERENTIATION AND SOLUTION OF ETHNIC CONFLICTS IN MALAYSIA

100%
Jelonek A. W.
Lud
|
2005
|
vol. 89
121-140
EN
The inhabitants of present day Malaysia form a deeply divided community, with respect to social status and socio-economic position. The factors, which lead to the strongest divisions, are of ethnic and racial nature. Malaysia is a country, which is inhabited by at least three separate communities – Malayan, Chinese and Indian. Ethnicity, as is shown by Zakaria Haji Ahmad, a Malayan sociologist, is the 'foundation of economic, cultural, religious and political life of Malaysia'. For this reason the system of political representation in Malaysia always reflects ethnic divisions and conflicts in this country. For all the communities, loyalty to one's own ethnic group has always meant lack of confidence and trust in the government and avoidance of individual or collective responsibility for a broader public interest (in the understanding of the state interest). The relative stability of the political system of Malaysia is connected with the unique 'elite accommodation system' or 'consocional democracy'. Most political decisions were supposed to be made following agreements between the elites of the ethnic communities. This meant that the weakened position of the parliament and other elected institutions were approved by all and that the ratification of the earlier agreements was entrusted to the parliament and the elected institutions. The system guaranteed that the natural leaders of the ethnic communities would enforce the final agreement, through their influence and authority, and would prevent opposition to them by individual communities. In the article the author tries to characterize the historical background of the divisions in the state and show attempts at a 'systemic' solution of the ethnic conflicts.
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