Power-Sharing in Europe

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Introduction: Power-Sharing in Europe—From Adoptability to End-Ability

   • Allison McCulloch

   Pages 1-18

3. Consociationalism in the Netherlands: Polder Politics and Pillar Talk

   • Matthijs Bogaards

   Pages 19-42

4. Power-Sharing in Austria: Consociationalism, Corporatism, and Federalism

   • Peter Bussjäger, Mirella M. Johler

   Pages 43-66

5. The Politics of Compromise: Institutions and Actors of Power-Sharing in Switzerland

   • Sean Mueller

   Pages 67-87

6. Power-Sharing in Belgium: The Disintegrative Model

   • Patricia Popelier

   Pages 89-114

7. Power-Sharing and Party Politics in the Western Balkans

   • John Hulsey, Soeren Keil

   Pages 115-139

8. Toward Inclusive Power-Sharing in Northern Ireland: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

   • Cera Murtagh

   Pages 141-169

9. South Tyrol’s Model of Conflict Resolution: Territorial Autonomy and Power-Sharing

   • Elisabeth Alber

   Pages 171-199

10. A Consociational Compromise? Constitutional Evolution in Spain and Catalonia

    • Paul Anderson

    Pages 201-225

11. Why Has Cyprus Been a Consociational Cemetery?

    • John McGarry

    Pages 227-256

12. Conclusion: The Past, Present and Future of Power-Sharing in Europe

    • Soeren Keil, Allison McCulloch

    Pages 257-273

13. Back Matter

    Pages 275-283

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This book evaluates the performance of consociational power-sharing arrangements in Europe. Under what conditions do consociational arrangements come in and out of being? How do consociational arrangements work in practice? The volume assesses how consociationalism is adopted, how it functions, and how it reforms or ends. Chapters cover early adopters of consociationalism, including both those which moved on to other institutional designs (the Netherlands, Austria) as well as those that continue to use consociational processes to manage their differences (Belgium, Switzerland, South Tyrol). Also analysed are ‘new wave’ cases where consociationalism was adopted after violent internal conflict (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland) and cases of unresolved conflict where consociationalism may yet help mediate ongoing divisions (Cyprus, Spain).

 

Soeren Keil is Reader in Politics and International Relations, Canterbury Christ Church University, United Kingdom.

 

Allison McCulloch is Associate Professor in Political Science, Brandon University, Canada.

• federalism
• power-sharing
• consociationalism
• consensus democracy
• multinational federation
• territorial autonomy
• Territorial Politics
• institutional design in post-conflict societies
• constitutional design in divided societies

“The accurate collection of chapters edited by Soeren Keil and Allison McCulloch provides more and less versed students with fresh theoretical framing and new case-based evidence. It re-evaluates critiques and expands the frontiers of research on power sharing … . The book offers compelling insights on power-sharing democracies in Europe. Its theoretical framework and empirical analyses constitute an informative source for those interested in democracy and divided societies.” (Guido Panzano, Acta Politica, Vol. 57, 2022)

“This is a valuable edited book … . The editors side-step theoretical complications, and in the process come up with an incisive set of questions, interesting descriptive mapping and make good progress towards a meaningful typology of cases, while presenting us with a fascinating set of substantive chapters.” (Jennifer Todd, Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft,Vol. 15 (3), October, 2021)

“Power-Sharing in Europe: Past Practice, Present Cases and Future Directions marks the beginning of a new way of understanding and evaluating institutional designs in plural societies. … the volume stands as a comprehensive and very-much-needed contribution to the literature. This volume is a highly recommended resource to anybody interested in the devices and arrangements suitable for managing plural societies, their performance, and ‘life cycles’.” (Arianna Piacentini, Journal of Federalism, April 30, 2021)

“Power-sharing in Europe moves beyond debates between advocates and detractors of power sharing to engage with critical issues regarding the origins, performance, and future of arrangements for managing intrastate conflict. Particularly noteworthy is the focus on the functionality of power-sharing arrangements, which is explored through a series of rich and detailed case studies. Anyone interested in power sharing and democracy will benefit from this engaging book, which develops a well-defined roadmap for future research.”

- Caroline A. Hartzell, Professor of Political Science, Gettysburg College, USA

‘This fresh collection of up-to date research marks the definitive arrival of a new cohort of scholars in command of their fields. Severally they re-examine with vim and vigor Europe’s classical power-sharing cases, positive and negative—salted  and peppered with contributions from the veterans Matthijs Bogaards and John McGarry. Highly recommended.’

 - Brendan O’Leary, Lauder Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

• School of Law, Policing and Social Sciences, Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, UK

  Soeren Keil

• Department of Political Science, Brandon University, Brandon, Canada

  Allison McCulloch

Soeren Keil is Reader in Politics and International Relations at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. He is also Visiting Professor and Module Director at Centre International de Formation Europeene (CIFE) in Nice, France. His research focuses on the use of territorial autonomy as a tool of conflict resolution, the political systems of the Western Balkan states and the process of EU enlargement. His recent publications include The Europeanisation of the Western Balkans – A Failure of EU Conditionality? (co-edited with Jelena Dzankic and Marko Kmezic, 2019) and Federalism and Conflict Resolution (co-authored with Paul Anderson, forthcoming).

Allison McCulloch is Associate Professor of Political Science at Brandon University, Manitoba, Canada. Her research considers the politics of deeply divided societies, with a specific emphasis on the design of political power-sharing (consociational) institutions. This includes how power-sharing governments handle political crises, the incentive structures for ethnopolitical moderation and extremism that power-sharing offers, and how power-sharing arrangements can be made more inclusive of identities beyond the ethnonational divide. She is the author of Power-Sharing and Political Stability in Deeply Divided Societies (2014) and co-editor of Power Sharing: Empirical and Normative Challenges (with John McGarry, 2017).

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