DEMOCRACY IN DIVIDED SOCIETIES. Central European University MA Course, Winter Semester 2015

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1 DEMOCRACY IN DIVIDED SOCIETIES Central European University MA Course, Winter Semester 2015 Instructor Dr. Matthijs Bogaards Visiting Professor, Department of Political Science Central European University Classes Tuesdays and Thursdays, Office hours TBA Credits 4 CEU credits, 8 ECTS credits Course description What are the particular challenges that divided societies pose to democracy and how can they be met? This is the leading question guiding the examination of democracy in divided societies. The course will have an empirical focus and review the experience with consociational and integrative majoritarian institutions around the world, familiarizing students with the main cases and paying particular attention to democracy and social peace in postconflict societies. The course will also address normative and theoretical issues in the form of two leading questions that are formulated deliberately provocatively to reflect a deep dissensus in political science on these matters. First, do we need a theory of ethnic conflict to design the right institutions? Second, are the right institutions also just? Course requirements No prior knowledge is assumed. Students are expected to be present at all seminars and to come prepared. If you are unable to attend class, you should notify me via prior to the session. Please feel free to send me questions, suggestions, and comments in preparation of our meetings. Assessment One group presentation (two students presenting together) (30%) One position paper (20%) Active seminar participation (10%) Final essay (40%) The starting point for each presentation is the reading for that week. In thinking about the kind of presentation you want to do, it may be helpful to consider the following four formats: 1) a critique, in which you critically evaluate the premises, argumentation, facts, sources, and/or conclusions of

2 2 the reading and point out (potential) problems; 2) a supplement, in which you build on the reading to provide additional relevant information, for example by reviewing what other authors have said on this topic, the experience in other countries or other times, etc.; 3) a deepening, in which you select one particular point of the reading and treat this more fully than is done in the paper itself, by developing the particular argument started in the paper and exploring its possibilities and limitations; 4) a case study, in which you highlight the facets of the theme dealt with in the paper through the selection and discussion of an illuminating empirical case or a fictitious problem that sharpens our thinking. Presentations should take no more than fifteen minutes. Presentations will be evaluated and graded using the presentation assessment sheet introduced in the first session. We will sign up for presentations in the first two weeks of the semester. You are strongly advised to consult with the instructor in choosing your topic and preparing your presentation. The position paper (800 words) should consist of a summary (twothirds) of the reading complemented by your own thoughts on the matter (onethird). You decide for which week you want to prepare a position paper, but please send it to the instructor by that Monday. Active class participation is expected and graded. Some guidelines: participate regularly, make informed contributions, focus on the main points, formulate clearly, respond to others in the discussion, demonstrate critical engagement. The final essay (3000 words) should be on the topic of democracy in divided societies. We will discuss the details of this assignment and the deadline in the first class. Learning outcomes At the end of the course the student should be able to: Understand the specific challenges posed by socio-cultural divisions to democracy; Reflect critically on the notions of ethnicity and ethnic conflict; Do independent research on a chosen topic related to democracy in divided societies; Work together to present on a particular aspect of democracy in divided societies; Summarize arguments and formulate an informed position; Appreciate the normative dimension of empirical questions about institutional design. Reading material All the course material is available in electronic form. The syllabus only contains the required reading. At the end of each week, suggestions for further reading will be discussed in class. Week 1 Introduction

3 3 The first session provides you with an overview of the main options in the menu of conflict management in divided societies. McGarry, John, Brendan O Leary, and Richard Simeon (2008) Integration or Accommodation? The Enduring Debate in Conflict Regulation, in Sujit Choudhry (ed.) Constitutional Design for Divided Societies: Integration or Accommodation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp Week 2 Self-Determination versus Pre-Determination Who shares power? Who determines who shares power? Who are the self in self-determination and self-rule? This session looks at the two ways to regulate access to power-sharing arrangements and examines their empirical record. Lijphart, Arend (1995) Self-Determination versus Pre-Determination of Ethnic Minorities in Power-Sharing Systems, in Will Kymlicka (ed.) The Rights of Minority Cultures (ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp McCulloch, Alison (2014) Consociational Settlements in Deeply Divided Societies: The Liberal-Corporate Distinction, Democratization 21(3): Week 3 Ethnic Democracy No term better captures the tension between ethnicity and democracy than the concept of ethnic democracy. In this session we re-examine the case of Israel and scrutinize the wider applicability of the notion. Berent, Moshe (2010) The Ethnic Democracy Debate: How Unique is Israel? Nations and Nationalism 16(4): Smooha, Sammy (2002) The Model of Ethnic Democracy: Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State, Nations and Nationalism 8(4): Week 4 Ethnic Conflict When following the news, one often gets the impression that the world is full of ethnic conflicts. But what makes a conflict an ethnic conflict and when does ethnicity result in ethnic conflict? Chandra, Kanchan (2009) Making Causal Claims about the Effect of Ethnicity, in Mark Lichbach and Alan Zuckerman (eds.) Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture and Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge

4 4 University Press, pp Fish, Steven and Robin Brooks (2004) Does Diversity Hurt Democracy? Journal of Democracy 15(1): Week 5 Ethnic conflict, part II This session builds on the previous one and takes a critical at the notion of ethnic conflict. Liebermann, Evan and Prerna Singh (2012) Conceptualizing and Measuring Ethnic Politics: An Institutional Complement to Demographic Behavioral, and Cognitive Approaches, Studies in Comparative International Development 47(2): Giley, Bruce (2004) Against the Concept of Ethnic Conflict, Third World Quarterly 25(6): Week 6 Debating Northern Ireland In the contemporary literature on consociationalism, no case is more hotly debated than Northern Ireland following the Good Friday agreement. The two main questions are: is Northern Ireland really a consociational democracy and, even if so, is this desirable? Nagle, John and Mary Alice Clancy (2012) Constructing a Shared Public Identity in Ethno-Nationally Divided Societies: Comparing Consociational and Transformationist Perspectives, Nations and Nationalism 18(1): Dixon, Paul (2012) The Politics of Conflict: A Constructivist Critique of Consociational and Civil Society Theories, Nations and Nationalism 18(1): Nagle, John and Mary-Alice Clancy (2012) Reply to The Politics of Conflict: A Constructivist Critique of Consociational and Civil Society Theories, Nations and Nationalism 18(1): Dixon, Paul (2012) A Rejoinder to a Reply, Nations and Nationalism 18(1): Week 7 Partition Partition is a controversial solution to civil war, even though the right to autonomy is well-established. How can this discrepancy be reconciled and what does the empirical evidence tell us? Wolff, Stefan and Marc Weller (2005) Self-Determination and Autonomy: A

5 5 Conceptual Introduction, in: Marc Weller and Stefan Wolff (eds.) Autonomy, Self-Governance and Conflict Resolution: Innovative Approaches to Institutional Design in Divided Societies. London: Routledge, pp Sambanis, Nicolas and Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl (2009) What s in a Line? Is Partition a Solution to Civil War? International Security 34(2): Week 8 Non-territorial autonomy When scholars and policy makers think about autonomy, they usually think of (ethno-)federalism, forgetting that autonomy can also be personal or functional. McGarry, John and Margaret Moore (2005) Karl Renner, Power Sharing and Non-Territorial Autonomy, in Ephraim Nimni (ed.) National Cultural Autonomy and its Contemporary Critics. London: Routledge, pp Klimova-Alexander, Ilona (2005) Prospects for Romani National Cultural Autonomy, in Ephraim Nimni (ed.) National Cultural Autonomy and its Contemporary Critics. London: Routledge, pp Week 9 Deliberation in Deeply Divided Societies Deliberative democracy is the cutting edge of democratic theory and some scholars have sought to explore its potential for divided societies. O Flynn, Ian (2010) Deliberative Democracy, the Public Interest and the Consociational Model, Political Studies 58(3): Luskin, Robert, Ian O Flynn, James Fishkin, and David Russell (2014) Deliberating across Deep Divides, Political Studies 62(1): Week 10 Courts and Consociations There is surprisingly little literature on the role that (supreme, constitutional, or international) courts play in consociational democracies. Here we take a closer look at one recent study. McCrudden, Christopher and Brendan O Leary (2013) Courts and Consociations: Human Rights versus Power-Sharing. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.78-84; ch. 6: the Bosnian Constitutional Court and Consociation, pp.85-92; ch. 7: Analyzing the Grand Chamber Judgments, pp Week 11 Consociational Parties In many countries, power sharing takes place between parties that each represent a well-defined community, but in some the representation and accommodation of diversity occurs within one party: the ruling party. How does that work?

6 6 Bogaards, Matthijs (2014) Democracy and Social Peace in Divided Societies: Exploring Consociational Parties. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, ch.1: The Consociational Party, pp Vandeginste, Stef (2009) Power-Sharing, Conflict and Transition in Burundi: Twenty Years of Trial and Error, Africa Spectrum 44(3): Week 12 Post-Conflict Societies Democracy in divided societies is difficult enough: how is democracy possible in post-conflict societies? The literature on power sharing provides some answers. Martin, Philip (2013) Coming Together: Power Sharing and the Durability of Negotiated Peace Settlements, Civil Wars 15(3): Horowitz, Donald (1994) Democracy in Divided Societies, in Larry Diamond and Marc Plattner (eds.) Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Democracy. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp