Politics in Deeply Divided Societies

The establishment of durable, democratic institutions constitutesone of the major challenges of our age. As countless contemporaryexamples have shown, it requires far more than simply the holdingof free elections. The consolidation of a legitimate constitutionalorder is difficult to achieve in any society, but it is especiallyproblematic in societies with deep social cleavages.This book provides an authoritative and systematic analysis ofthe politics of so- called 'deeply divided societies' in thepost Cold War era. From Bosnia to South Africa, Northern Ireland toIraq, it explains why such places are so prone to politicalviolence, and demonstrates why - even in times of peace - the fearof violence continues to shape attitudes, entrenching divisions insocieties that already lack consensus on their politicalinstitutions.Combining intellectual rigour and accessibility, it examines thechallenge of establishing order and justice in such unstableenvironments, and critically assesses a range of political optionsavailable, from partition to power-sharing and various initiativesto promote integration. The Politics of Deeply DividedSocieties is an ideal resource for students of comparativepolitics and related disciplines, as well as anyone with aninterest in the dynamics of ethnic conflict and nationalism.