Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

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

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Power-Sharing in Europe

Part of the book series: Federalism and Internal Conflicts ((FEINCO))

Abstract

How do consociations come in and out of being? How do consociations work, that is, how do they resolve potential political crises and other forms of deadlock between power-sharing partners? This chapter proposes a temporal lens for understanding how consociations are formed (adoptability), how they function over time (functionality), and how they may adapt, reform or even come to an end (end-ability). It establishes the rationale and motivation for the book, sets out the guiding questions and themes, introduces the set of European case studies covered in the text, and outlines the chapters that follow in the rest of the volume.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Agarin, T., McCulloch, A., & Murtagh, C. (2018). Others in Deeply Divided Societies: A Research Agenda. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 24(3), 299–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boldt, H. (2012). Ending Consociational Power-Sharing: The Sejdić and Finci Case and the Prospects for Constitutional Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Vienna Journal on International Constitutional Law, 6(3–4), 489–547.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caluwaerts, D., & Reuchamps, M. (2015). Combining Federalism with Consociationalism: Is Belgian Consociational Federalism Digging its Own Grave? Ethnopolitics, 14(3), 277–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elazar, D.J. 1985. Federalism and Consociational Regimes. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 15(2): 17–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartzell, C., & Hoddie, M. (2003). Institutionalizing Peace: Power-Sharing and Post-Civil War Conflict Management. American Journal of Political Science, 47(2), 318–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helms, L., Jenny, M., & Willumsen, D. M. (2019). Alpine Troubles: Trajectories of De-Consociationalisation in Austria and Switzerland Compared. Swiss Political Science Review, 25(4), 381–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz, D. L. (2002). Explaining the Northern Ireland Agreement: The Sources of an Unlikely Constitutional Consensus. British Journal of Political Science, 32(2), 193–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz, D. L. (2014). Ethnic Power Sharing: Three Big Problems. Journal of Democracy, 25(2), 5–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarstad, A. (2008). The Prevalence of Power-sharing: Exploring the Patterns of Post-election Peace. African Spectrum, 44(3), 41–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larin, S., & Röggla, M. (2019). Participatory Consociationalism? No, but South Tyrol’s Autonomy Convention is Evidence that Power-Sharing Can Transform Conflicts. Nations and Nationalism, 25(3), 1018–1041.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lijphart, A. (1968). The Politics of Accommodation: Pluralism and Democracy in the Netherlands. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lijphart, A. (1969). Consociational Democracy. World Politics, 21(2), 207–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lijphart, A. (1977). Democracy in Plural Societies: A Comparative Exploration. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lijphart, A. (2008). Thinking about Democracy: Power-Sharing and Majority Rule in Theory and Practice. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, P. (2013). Coming Together: Power-sharing and the Durability of Negotiated Peace Settlements. Civil Wars, 15(3), 332–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mattes, M., & Savun, B. (2009). Fostering Peace after Civil War: Commitment Problems and Agreement Design. International Studies Quarterly, 53(3), 737–759.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCulloch, A. (2014). Consociational Settlements in Divided Societies: The Liberal-Corporate Distinction. Democratization, 21(3), 501–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCulloch, A., & McEvoy, J. (2018). The International Mediation of Power-Sharing Settlements. Cooperation and Conflict, 53(4), 467–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCulloch, A., & McEvoy, J. (2019). ‘Bumps in the Road Ahead’: How External Actors Defuse Power-Sharing Crises. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 13(2), 216–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCulloch, A., & McEvoy, J. (2020). Understanding Power-Sharing Performance: A Lifecycle Approach. Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism. 

    Google Scholar 

  • McEvoy, J. (2017). Power-Sharing and the Pursuit of Good Governance: Evidence from Northern Ireland. In A. McCulloch & J. McGarry (Eds.), Power-Sharing: Empirical and Normative Challenges. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • McEvoy, J., & Aboultaif, E. (2020). Power-Sharing Challenges: From Weak Adoptability to Dysfunction in Iraq. Ethnopolitics. Online First. https://doi/org/10.1080/17449057.2020.1739363

  • McGarry, J. (2017). Centripetalism, Consociationalism and Cyprus: The ‘Adoptability’ Question. In A. McCulloch & J. McGarry (Eds.), Power-Sharing: Empirical and Normative Challenges. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGarry, J. (2019). Classical Consociational Theory and Recent Consociational Performance. Swiss Political Science Review, 25(4), 538–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGarry, J., & O’Leary, B. (2006). Consociational Theory, Northern Ireland’s Conflict, and Its Agreement. Part One: What Consociationalists Can Learn from Northern Ireland. Government and Opposition, 41(1), 43–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGarry, J., & O’Leary, B. (2007). Iraq’s Constitution of 2005: Liberal Consociation as Political Prescription. International Journal of Constitutional Law, 5(4), 670–698.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murtagh, C., & McCulloch, A. (2019). Beyond the Core: The Inclusion of ‘Others’ in Maturing Power-Sharing Systems. Paper Presented at the Political Studies Association Annual International Conference 2019, Cardiff.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagle, J. (2019). Zombie Power-Sharing and Destitutent Resistance. Paper presented at the Workshop on The Challenges of Power Sharing in the Post-Uprisings Arab World, Lebanese American University, Beirut.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roeder, P., & Rothchild, D. (2005). Power-Sharing as Impediment to Peace and Democracy. In D. Rothchild & P. Roeder (Eds.), Sustainable Peace: Power and Democracy after Civil Wars. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, R. (2009). The Promise of Consociational Theory. In R. Taylor (Ed.), Consociational Theory: McGarry and O’Leary and the Northern Ireland Conflict. London: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, D. (2017). Independent Commissions and Contentious Issues in Post-Good Friday Northern Ireland. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wolff, S. (2004). The Institutional Structure of Regional Consociations in Brussels, Northern Ireland, and South Tyrol. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 10(3), 387–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Brandon University, Brandon, MB, Canada

    Allison McCulloch

Authors
  1. Allison McCulloch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Allison McCulloch .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

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

    Soeren Keil

  2. Department of Political Science, Brandon University, Brandon, MB, Canada

    Allison McCulloch

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

McCulloch, A. (2021). Introduction: Power-Sharing in Europe—From Adoptability to End-Ability. In: Keil, S., McCulloch, A. (eds) Power-Sharing in Europe. Federalism and Internal Conflicts. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53590-2_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation