The Promises and Perils of Power-Sharing in Global Perspective

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Power-sharing arrangements have become a common tool of conflict management in polities where group-level divisions are salient. In the aftermath of civil war or other group-based contention, power-sharing can (re)-incorporate key actors into the state, mitigate damaging competition, and ensure group-level representation in different realms of governance. In some cases, power-sharing has been shown to lower the likelihood of conflict recurrence – but its track record in this outcome and in improving the quality of governance is mixed. Power-sharing comes in distinct forms and, at a basic level, can be divided into consociational and centripetal variants. Certain features of power-sharing, which may be more or less present in these distinct types, may prevent conflict but facilitate unproductive gridlock that inhibits other important governance functions. In other cases, power-sharing agreements may work effectively in the short term, but lack the flexibility necessary to deal with exogenous shocks or shifts in group boundaries and definitions. Further complicating analysis, power-sharing agreements are almost always endogenous to the nature of political conflicts that precede their adoption, making causal estimation of their effects particularly difficult.

This panel draws on a wide range of empirical and theoretical approaches to uncover when, why, and to what end power-sharing constitutes an effective governance tool. Panelists engage with theory building, survey experimental methods, cross-national analysis, and qualitative case studies to uncover the variety of ways in which power-sharing agreements are constructed and the conditions under which they facilitate citizen inclusion, elite accountability, and the provision of public goods provision. These include novel perspectives centered on citizens’ perceptions of different power-sharing arrangements; the role of political parties in mediating implementation; the role of various power-sharing arrangements in longer-term social outcomes; and exploration of alternatives to power-sharing.

Sub Unit

• Division 11: Comparative Politics

Individual Presentations

• Citizens’ Perspectives on Power-Sharing Settlements as Part of a Peace Process - Caroline A. Hartzell, Gettysburg College; Douglas Page, Gettysburg College

• Ethnic and Partisan Power Sharing in Interwar Europe - Lea Kaftan, GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences; Stefan Stojkovic; Nils-Christian Bormann, Witten/Herdecke University

• Ethnic Power Sharing and Its Travails - Donald L. Horowitz, Duke University

• Varieties of Power-Sharing and the Quality of Public Goods Provision - Melani Cammett, Harvard University; Edmund J. Malesky, Duke University; Christiana Parreira, Geneva Graduate Institute

Chair

• Andreas Wimmer Columbia University

Discussant

• Andreas Wimmer Columbia University