Fifty years ago academics and policymakers throughout the world agreed that it was impossible
for certain sets of historically antagonistic groups to coexist peacefully on a long-term
basis. This book examines the system of consociation which was identified by Arend Lijphart
and ended that pessimistic consensus. Lijphart's specific observations concerning the impact of
consociation are assessed quantitatively and qualitatively facilitated through careful
operationalization of his descriptions of consociation's four components: grand coalition
minority veto proportionality and segmental autonomy. Insights derived from a dataset
representing the experiences of eighty-eight countries are examined further through case study
analysis of the seven societies most often discussed in relation to consociation: Austria
Belgium Canada the Netherlands Northern Ireland South Africa and Switzerland. The
components of consociation are found to promote lasting peace in divided societies most
successfully when combined with additional incentives for the encouragement of cross-cutting
cleavages and shared loyalties.
