Democracy and Social Peace in Divided Societies

The literature on political power sharing of socio-cultural groups is dominated by the well-known model of consociational democracy, characterized by cooperation between the leaders of segmental parties representing specific constituencies, usually minorities (Lijphart, 1977). However, in many countries the political represen-tation and accommodation of diversity take place within rather than among parties. This important distinction has not been duly recognized in accounts of consociationalism in Canada (Liberal Party), Fiji (Alliance Party), India (Congress Party), Kenya (KANU), Malaysia (Alliance/National Front), South Africa (African National Congress), and the former Yugoslavia (League of Communists). So far, no framework exists that allows for the identification and analysis of such cases of intra-party representation and accommodation. The concept of the “consociational party” (Bogaards, 2005) intends to fill this gap and to open up a new line of research.

The Alliance type of consociational party is made up of separate organizational entities that function as a unity in the context of competitive multi-party elections. The two cases that approximate this type most closely and give it its name are the Alliance, later National Front, in Malaysia and the Alliance Party in Fiji. This chapter describes party politics in Malaysia and Fiji, focusing on the organization and role of the respective consociational parties. The first aim is to assess the extent to which the Alliance/National Front and the Alliance Party in correspond to the ideal type of consociational party. In other words, to assess to what extent these parties provide for internal representation of communal diversity and ethnic accommodation. The second aim is to examine more closely how the internal organization of the Alliance type of consociational party affects these functions. The conclusion to this chapter will highlight similarities and differences between the two cases.

The Congress type of consociational party operates within a multiparty system and consists of factions and/or subnational party units that represent socio-cultural constituencies. The cases that most closely approximate this model are the Congress Party in India and the Liberal Party in Canada. Both countries are federal states, thereby allowing for a more precise analysis of the relationship between consociational parties and federations.

The very existence of consociational parties in non-democracies may be doubted due to the powerful constraints that the authoritarian regime logic of power concentration puts on representation and accommodation. Brooker (2000) mentions Kenya as an example of a “party dictatorship”. Linz (2000) discusses Communist Yugoslavia in the section on “post-totalitarian authoritarian regimes”. This notwithstanding, observers have pointed out elements of socio-cultural representation and accommodation inside one-party states and these claims deserve to be scrutinized. Two types of non-democratic consociational parties have been identified and selected for further analysis: the single party (KANU in Kenya) and the League Model (the Yugoslav Communist Party).

There is little doubt that the interim constitution that helped South Africa’s transition to an inclusive polity contained power-sharing arrangements.¹ However, the permanent constitution and the departure of the National Party (NP) from the Government of National Unity (GNU) in 1996 weakened political accommodation in this plural society. When the African National Congress (ANC) established itself as the dominant party, some observers put their hope in the ANC becoming more inclusive and participatory. This development can be conceptualized as the transformation of a standard form of consociationalism among different parties, each representing their own community, to consociationalism within one, consociational, party. This chapter examines the record of the ANC as a consociational party that within itself represents and accommodates the country’s diversity. It looks at party organization, internal representation, and internal accommodation of socio-cultural differences within the context of the dominant position of the ANC in the wider political system. The conclusion will be that the ANC appears even more negatively disposed to internal consociationalism than it has been to interparty consociationalism, pointing at the possibility of a long-lasting political marginalization of minority interests.

Where do consociational parties come from? And, if consociation-alism, why intraparty instead of interparty consociationalism? These are questions about the origin of consociational parties and the factors contributing to their development. The question why consociationalism in some countries has taken the form of representation and accommodation inside the ruling party and in other countries came about through interparty arrangements among segmental parties has not been addressed in the elaborate consociational literature, for the simple reason that the distinction between intra-and interparty consociationalism has been overlooked. Hence, the first aim of this comparative chapter will be to examine the conditions that give rise to consociational parties. The second aim is to place consociational parties within the broader context of their political systems. More precisely, the analysis will focus on the interaction between consocia-tional parties and the main political institutions. The argument will be that consociational parties benefit from majoritarian institutions. This is a new, at first blush surprising, insight that can be explained by the position of consociational parties as dominant parties.

The analysis of the conditions under which consociational parties emerge and function has highlighted the special nature of intra-party consociationalism. The favourable factors that are commonly used to assess the prospects of consociationalism in a country are of little help in explaining the emergence of consociational parties as a particular type of consociationalism. Instead, the electoral system, colonial legacy, and regime type were identified as key factors. Together they help explain why representation and accommodation in Malaysia, Fiji, India, Canada, Kenya, and Yugoslavia take place within one party instead of among parties representing their own socio-cultural groups. The examination of the institutional context in which consociational parties operate revealed their symbiosis with majoritarian institutions. Whereas interparty consociationalism is associated with the institutions of consensus democracy, intraparty consociationalism was found to co-exist with and draw strength from majoritarian institutions. The previous chapter therefore confirmed the hypothesis that, as dominant parties, consociational parties benefit from majoritarian institutions, making representation more inclusive and accommodation more far-reaching and effective.