Power Sharing and Democracy ‘From Below’: Rights and Freedoms in Post-War States

• In Event: Political Development and Legitimacy in Post-Civil War Countries

Abstract

Power sharing measures adopted as a means of ending civil wars have the potential to shape democracy and, consequently, state legitimacy in a variety of ways. In this paper we explore the effects power sharing has on the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals across social groups in post-conflict states. In addition, we examine what effect, if any, power sharing has on the distribution of resources across social groups given the capacity this has to affect citizens’ ability meaningfully to participate in democratic processes. We hypothesize that power sharing has the ability to facilitate democracy “from below” by placing the representatives of formerly underrepresented groups at the political center or in positions of power in regional governments, thus enhancing group members’ ability to communicate with the government and to participate in the political process. We also posit that power sharing may generate norms of inclusivity that encourage rights and freedoms for groups, including those outside the immediate power-sharing arrangement. We are less sanguine, however, about the potential of power sharing to produce a more equal distribution of resources across groups in the post-conflict state. We test our hypotheses employing a cross-national, time-series data set for all civil wars fought and ended between 1945 and 2006.

Authors

• Caroline A. Hartzell, Gettysburg College

• Matthew Hoddie, Towson University