The limits of inclusion: Representation of minority and non-dominant communities in consociational and liberal democracies

Published date01 January 2020
AuthorTimofey Agarin
Date01 January 2020
DOI10.1177/0192512119881801
Subject MatterSpecial Issue Articles
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512119881801
International Political Science Review
2020, Vol. 41(1) 15 –29
© The Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512119881801
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The limits of inclusion:
Representation of minority and
non-dominant communities
in consociational and liberal
democracies
Timofey Agarin
Queen’s University Belfast, UK
Abstract
Consociationalism starts with the assumption that in divided societies there are multiple groups with
reasonable claims which leads to the development of group sensitive mechanisms for political representation.
While consociations are put in place to ensure the participation of groups whose past disenfranchisement
from (equal) political representation resulted in violence, their disregard for individuals and identities of
other, non-dominant groups is comparable to the impact of liberal democratic governments on minority
groups. Both the approach observed in consociational practice and the liberal democratic approach of
accommodating members of minority groups result from a preference for the political accommodation of
majority group identities. Both approaches, I argue, result in the neglect of the input of minority and non-
dominant groups. This effect is, principally, a result of the lack of guaranteed representation afforded to their
group identities and is exacerbated by the representation of majority interests which is aggregated from
individual-level participation.
Keywords
Consociationalism, liberal democracy, non-dominant communities, participation, representation
The essence of conflict transformation often rests in putting postconflict societies on the trajec-
tory towards liberal democracy because these are believed to respond best to the concerns of
their members. Group sensitive political representation is widely acknowledged to be crucial for
ensuring that the majority of society has an opportunity to participate in this process. Recognising
that within the state ‘there is more than one people with reasonable claims’ (O’Leary, 2005: xxi)
is fundamental to consociational systems and to their anticipated transformation into liberal
Corresponding author:
Timofey Agarin, School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queen’s University Belfast, 25 University
Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT71PB, UK.
Email: t.agarin@qub.ac.uk
881801IPS0010.1177/0192512119881801International Political Science ReviewAgarin
research-article2019
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