Advances in the Study of Power Sharing Coalitions

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

This panel brings together novel research on power sharing between political elites. It invites contributions that conceptualise or empirically identify the importance of individual and collective elite behavior.
Scholars studying ethnically divided societies, civil war-afflicted environments, autocratic regime survival, and democratic performance have identified power sharing between political elites as a crucial mechanism in their respective areas of expertise. While agreeing on the theoretical importance of elite coalitions, most studies empirically identify power sharing through institutional proxies such as electoral systems, provisions in peace agreements, or the presence of parties in dictatorships.
The studies on this panel add to this institutional focus by emphasising the role of elites when sharing power. The studies point to possible selection effects, when elites opt for institutions that serve their interests, and raise new questions when identifying elite coalitions where so-called power-sharing institutions are absent.
The panel thus advances research into elite power sharing in three ways: First, by bringing together researchers who study elite coalitions in authoritarian, democratic, and post-conflict environments, it aims to inspire theoretical progress. Second, by focusing on elite behavior and the resulting coalitions, it tests institutional assumptions. Third, by presenting new data it broadens the empirical scope of the power-sharing literature.


Chair: Nils-Christian Bormann (University of Exeter)
Discussants: Sona Golder (Pennsylvania State University) & Nils-Christian Bormann

Presenters:
Margaret Ariotti (University of Georgia)
Chelsea Johnson (London School of Economics)
Will Nomikos (Yale University)
Paul Staniland (University of Chicago)

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 12: Comparative Politics in Developing Countries

Individual Presentations

• Power Sharing in African Democracies - Margaret H. Ariotti, University of Georgia; Sona N. Golder, Penn State University

• Power Sharing Effects on Vertical and Horizontal Accountability in Africa - Chelsea B. Johnson, The London School of Economics and Political Science

• Why Share? An Analysis of the Sources of Power-Sharing Agreements - William G. Nomikos, Washington University in St. Louis

• Ending Civil Wars without International Involvement: New Data from South Asia - Paul Staniland, University of Chicago

Chair

• Nils-Christian Bormann University of Essex

Discussant

• Sona N. Golder Penn State University