Stef Vandeginste
Biographic Data
| ID | 110658 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stef Vandeginste |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stef |
| FAMILY NAME | Vandeginste |
| SIGNATURE | VANDEGINSTE S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Antwerp |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2349-837X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 139 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Judicial Design, Gender and Ethnicity: A Typology Applied to the Burundi Constitutional Court
This article examines the ethnic and gender quotas that have been applied to Burundi’s Constitutional Court since 2019. It shows that while gender quotas aim to make the court reflective or to remedy past injustices, ethnic quotas serve multiple roles: securing ethnic peace, de-escalating conflict or confirming power balances. Our analysis challenges scepticism about judicial quotas and independence, arguing that quotas do not inherently undermin…
Women's Descriptive Representation in Burundi: The Mixed Effects of Gender Quotas
Building on original data collected for the period between 2001 and 2020, this article contributes to the research on the effectiveness of gender quotas. It does so, first, by looking into the salience of ministerial portfolios allocated to women, and, secondly, by examining the spillover effect of the gender quotas in positions where they do not apply. We find that the implementation of gender quotas gradually resulted in women being assigned to…
Presidents, Ministers and Governors: Ethnic Quotas and the Evolution of Power-Sharing at Critical Junctures in Burundi
Building on an original dataset, this paper explores the evolution of the consociational power- sharing at critical junctures in Burundi. Covering almost two decades of power-sharing practice (2001–2020), this paper analyzes the allocation of high salience ministerial portfolios and of provincial governor positions along ethnic lines. The paper shows how quotas matter and how a changing political context affects the real life implementation of Bu…
Reserved Seats and Cooptation in Burundi (2000–2020)
Using a lifecycle perspective, this paper analyzes the use of reserved seats and the evolution of cooptation norms and practices in Burundi between the signature of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement in 2000 and the 2020 legislative elections. Value-driven objectives, such as minority protection, only partly explain their use and design. The adoption, functionality and recent transformation of electoral cooptation were also determined …
The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: Past, Present and Future
This article traces a genealogy of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) and examines the charter's overall implementation. While there has always been a struggle between competing views of how to ensure more or less continental accountability for norms related to democratic governance in Africa, enforcement by the African Union (AU) has definitively become more robust since the ACDEG's adoption. The article argues th…
Introduction: The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance at 10
On various continents, intergovernmental organizations resort to legal engineering in order to promote democratic governance in their member states. Those legal efforts operate in a fluctuating political and societal environment, which they seek to transform but which, in turn, shapes the authority, the effectiveness and even the very nature of the legal instruments. As this Special Issue shows, this process of mutual influencing between law and …
Veto power and power-sharing: Insights from Burundi (2000–2018)
Veto power is a key institutional pillar of consociational power-sharing. However, the literature is divided on its impact for institutional functionality. While the founding father of consociational theory, Arend Lijphart, expects veto rights to be exercised sparingly by segmental elites, more recent scholarship emphasizes the need for restrictions (in terms of veto players, veto issues, veto points and procedure) in order to avoid abusive and d…
The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: Trends, Challenges and Perspectives
This introduction to the Special Focus argues that more thorough and nuanced understandings of the past accomplishments and failures of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) are needed. The article contends that detailed accounts focusing on the practices of diverse actors and institutions within the ACDEG's multi-level governance framework and their - sometimes - frictional relations are necessary to develop appropri…
Ethnic Quotas and Foreign NGOs in Burundi: Shrinking Civic Space Framed as Affirmative Action
Since January 2017, foreign non-governmental organisations (ONGEs) active in Burundi are required to respect ethnic quotas (60 per cent Hutu, 40 per cent Tutsi) when employing local staff. The ethnic quota requirement was adopted amidst fears of re-ethnicisation of politics and society, enhanced control on civil society and tense relations between the Burundi government and its aid partners. While authorities justify the measure as a remedy for d…
Museveni, Burundi and the Perversity of Immunité Provisoire
To enhance the inclusiveness of Burundi's political dialogue, Ugandan president and East African Community mediator Yoweri Museveni suggested granting temporary immunity to Burundian opponents living in exile, some of whom are wanted by the government for their participation in the May 2015 failed military coup attempt. While from a short-term conflictsettlement perspective this is a valuable suggestion, an analysis of Burundi's previous experien…
Legal Loopholes and the Politics of Executive Term Limits: Insights from Burundi
The nomination of incumbent Pierre Nkurunziza to stand again for president in the 2015 national elections triggered a political and security crisis in Burundi. A crucial element in the controversy around his third term was the legality of his candidacy. This paper analyses how domestic and international actors responded to the legal loopholes that characterised Burundi's term-limit legislation. Three responses are distinguished. First, quite para…
Burundi's electoral crisis – back to power-sharing politics as usual
RULING PARTY Conseil national pour la dfense de la dmocratie -Forces pour la dfense de la dmocratie (CNDD-FDD) designated incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza as its candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections, despite the fact that he had already completed two terms in office. The announcement that Nkurunziza planned to take a third term triggered an unprecedented series of demonstrations in Bujumbura, Burundi's capital city. Two month…
Governing ethnicity after genocide: Ethnic amnesia in Rwanda versus ethnic power-sharing in Burundi
A remarkable process of ethnic engineering has been taking place in neighbouring Burundi and Rwanda. After a failed democratization attempt in the early 1990s, both countries experienced an extremely violent transition process. Despite the many similarities between the two countries, they have adopted radically different approaches to address long-standing ethnic divisions. While Rwanda has opted for a policy based on ethnic amnesia and an integr…
Political Representation of Minorities as Collateral Damage or Gain: The Batwa in Burundi and Rwanda
There is a remarkable discrepancy between the political representation of the Batwa ethnic minority group in Burundi compared to in Rwanda. Whereas Rwanda's focus on citizenship prevents the Batwa from claiming recognition as a politically salient societal segment, Burundi's governance model, characterized by ethnic, consociational power-sharing, guarantees the political representation of the Batwa in the legislative assemblies. The difference is…
The African Union, Constitutionalism and Power-Sharing
Over the past decade, the African Union has put in place a normative framework to promote constitutional rule and, in particular, orderly constitutional transfers of power in its member states. Its Peace and Security Council opposes unconstitutional changes of government, including through the use of sanctions. The PSC systematically advocates a return to constitutional order, in particular through free and fair elections, as a remedy for unconst…
Law, power-sharing and human rights: Introduction to a special issue
The concept of power-sharing is complex and refers to widely divergent realities. In essence, however, all types of power-sharing are, on the one hand, about guaranteeing a stake in the exercise of
When interests meet norms: The relevance of human rights for peace and power-sharing
A typical feature of contemporary peace accords and power-sharing agreements are references to human rights. Using a data set of 82 peace agreements from 20 sub-Saharan African countries signed between 1989 and 2011, this article studies the prevalence, origin and relevance of human rights norms to power-sharing agreements. We argue that a fine balance needs to be struck between resolving conflicts and addressing human rights concerns. While most…
Burundi's Truth and Reconciliation Commission: How to Shed Light on the Past while Standing in the Dark Shadow of Politics
More than a decade after the signature of the 2000 Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, which announced the establishment of transitional justice mechanisms in Burundi, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is about to be launched. This note highlights how political factors and dynamics related to the peace process and to the 2010 general elections explain the timing as well as elements of the proposed mandate and composition of the f…
Bypassing the Prohibition of Amnesty for Human Rights Crimes under International Law: Lessons Learned from the Burundi Peace Process
Focusing on the case of Burundi, this article analyses the effectiveness of the international prohibition of amnesty for serious human rights crimes at the national level, in the context of complex war-to-peace transitions based on power-sharing deals between former opponents. On the one hand, the amnesty prohibition has clearly affected Burundi's peace process and its proposed transitional justice process. The prohibition found its way into nati…
Power Sharing and Transitional Justice: A Clash of Paradigms
Recent peace negotiations practice has given rise to the emergence of two paradigms. In line with normative developments in global human rights protection, internationally brokered peace processes often address the options for accountability for abuses committed in the past and generally cannot include blanket amnesties. At the same time, many agreements end armed conflicts by offering power-sharing incentives for warring parties. In most cases, …
Power-sharing as a fragile safety valve in times of electoral turmoil: The costs and benefits of Burundi's 2010 elections
This paper analyses the local, presidential and legislative elections that took place in Burundi between May and September 2010. Electoral results are presented, analysed and interpreted against the background of Burundi's constitutional consociational power-sharing regime. The power-sharing arrangement, which was negotiated during Burundi's recently completed peace process, saved the pluralistic nature of the elections but may itself fall victim…
Le processus de justice transitionnelle au Burundi: L'épreuve de son contexte politique
L'article explique pourquoi, seize ans après l'assassinat du président Ndadaye et le déclenchement de massacres et d'une guerre civile, aucun mécanisme de justice transitionnelle n'a encore été établi au Burundi alors que l'ONU et la société civile le demandent depuis longtemps et que l'accord d'Arusha pour la paix et la réconciliation de 2000, conformément aux nouvelles normes globales, prévoyait la création d'un tribunal pénal international et …
Power-Sharing, Conflict and Transition in Burundi: Twenty Years of Trial and Error
For the past twenty years, Burundi has experimented with power-sharing as an instrument of political liberalisation, democratisation and conflict resolution. This contribution analyses the different meanings the concept of power-sharing has had throughout Burundi's recent and extremely violent political transition, in particular during the lengthy peace process. It shows how national and international actors have found inspiration in the toolbox …
Governing ethnicity after genocide: Ethnic amnesia in Rwanda versus ethnic power-sharing in Burundi
A remarkable process of ethnic engineering has been taking place in neighbouring Burundi and Rwanda. After a failed democratization attempt in the early 1990s, both countries experienced an extremely violent transition process. Despite the many similarities between the two countries, they have adopted radically different approaches to address long-standing ethnic divisions. While Rwanda has opted for a policy based on ethnic amnesia and an integr…
Power-Sharing, Conflict and Transition in Burundi: Twenty Years of Trial and Error
For the past twenty years, Burundi has experimented with power-sharing as an instrument of political liberalisation, democratisation and conflict resolution. This contribution analyses the different meanings the concept of power-sharing has had throughout Burundi's recent and extremely violent political transition, in particular during the lengthy peace process. It shows how national and international actors have found inspiration in the toolbox …
Burundi's electoral crisis – back to power-sharing politics as usual
RULING PARTY Conseil national pour la dfense de la dmocratie -Forces pour la dfense de la dmocratie (CNDD-FDD) designated incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza as its candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections, despite the fact that he had already completed two terms in office. The announcement that Nkurunziza planned to take a third term triggered an unprecedented series of demonstrations in Bujumbura, Burundi's capital city. Two month…
Veto power and power-sharing: Insights from Burundi (2000–2018)
Veto power is a key institutional pillar of consociational power-sharing. However, the literature is divided on its impact for institutional functionality. While the founding father of consociational theory, Arend Lijphart, expects veto rights to be exercised sparingly by segmental elites, more recent scholarship emphasizes the need for restrictions (in terms of veto players, veto issues, veto points and procedure) in order to avoid abusive and d…
Legal Loopholes and the Politics of Executive Term Limits: Insights from Burundi
The nomination of incumbent Pierre Nkurunziza to stand again for president in the 2015 national elections triggered a political and security crisis in Burundi. A crucial element in the controversy around his third term was the legality of his candidacy. This paper analyses how domestic and international actors responded to the legal loopholes that characterised Burundi's term-limit legislation. Three responses are distinguished. First, quite para…
Power-sharing as a fragile safety valve in times of electoral turmoil: The costs and benefits of Burundi's 2010 elections
This paper analyses the local, presidential and legislative elections that took place in Burundi between May and September 2010. Electoral results are presented, analysed and interpreted against the background of Burundi's constitutional consociational power-sharing regime. The power-sharing arrangement, which was negotiated during Burundi's recently completed peace process, saved the pluralistic nature of the elections but may itself fall victim…
Burundi's Truth and Reconciliation Commission: How to Shed Light on the Past while Standing in the Dark Shadow of Politics
More than a decade after the signature of the 2000 Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, which announced the establishment of transitional justice mechanisms in Burundi, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is about to be launched. This note highlights how political factors and dynamics related to the peace process and to the 2010 general elections explain the timing as well as elements of the proposed mandate and composition of the f…
Political Representation of Minorities as Collateral Damage or Gain: The Batwa in Burundi and Rwanda
There is a remarkable discrepancy between the political representation of the Batwa ethnic minority group in Burundi compared to in Rwanda. Whereas Rwanda's focus on citizenship prevents the Batwa from claiming recognition as a politically salient societal segment, Burundi's governance model, characterized by ethnic, consociational power-sharing, guarantees the political representation of the Batwa in the legislative assemblies. The difference is…
When interests meet norms: The relevance of human rights for peace and power-sharing
A typical feature of contemporary peace accords and power-sharing agreements are references to human rights. Using a data set of 82 peace agreements from 20 sub-Saharan African countries signed between 1989 and 2011, this article studies the prevalence, origin and relevance of human rights norms to power-sharing agreements. We argue that a fine balance needs to be struck between resolving conflicts and addressing human rights concerns. While most…
Power Sharing and Transitional Justice: A Clash of Paradigms
Recent peace negotiations practice has given rise to the emergence of two paradigms. In line with normative developments in global human rights protection, internationally brokered peace processes often address the options for accountability for abuses committed in the past and generally cannot include blanket amnesties. At the same time, many agreements end armed conflicts by offering power-sharing incentives for warring parties. In most cases, …
Presidents, Ministers and Governors: Ethnic Quotas and the Evolution of Power-Sharing at Critical Junctures in Burundi
Building on an original dataset, this paper explores the evolution of the consociational power- sharing at critical junctures in Burundi. Covering almost two decades of power-sharing practice (2001–2020), this paper analyzes the allocation of high salience ministerial portfolios and of provincial governor positions along ethnic lines. The paper shows how quotas matter and how a changing political context affects the real life implementation of Bu…
Reserved Seats and Cooptation in Burundi (2000–2020)
Using a lifecycle perspective, this paper analyzes the use of reserved seats and the evolution of cooptation norms and practices in Burundi between the signature of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement in 2000 and the 2020 legislative elections. Value-driven objectives, such as minority protection, only partly explain their use and design. The adoption, functionality and recent transformation of electoral cooptation were also determined …
Bypassing the Prohibition of Amnesty for Human Rights Crimes under International Law: Lessons Learned from the Burundi Peace Process
Focusing on the case of Burundi, this article analyses the effectiveness of the international prohibition of amnesty for serious human rights crimes at the national level, in the context of complex war-to-peace transitions based on power-sharing deals between former opponents. On the one hand, the amnesty prohibition has clearly affected Burundi's peace process and its proposed transitional justice process. The prohibition found its way into nati…
The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: Trends, Challenges and Perspectives
This introduction to the Special Focus argues that more thorough and nuanced understandings of the past accomplishments and failures of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) are needed. The article contends that detailed accounts focusing on the practices of diverse actors and institutions within the ACDEG's multi-level governance framework and their - sometimes - frictional relations are necessary to develop appropri…
Ethnic Quotas and Foreign NGOs in Burundi: Shrinking Civic Space Framed as Affirmative Action
Since January 2017, foreign non-governmental organisations (ONGEs) active in Burundi are required to respect ethnic quotas (60 per cent Hutu, 40 per cent Tutsi) when employing local staff. The ethnic quota requirement was adopted amidst fears of re-ethnicisation of politics and society, enhanced control on civil society and tense relations between the Burundi government and its aid partners. While authorities justify the measure as a remedy for d…
Law, power-sharing and human rights: Introduction to a special issue
The concept of power-sharing is complex and refers to widely divergent realities. In essence, however, all types of power-sharing are, on the one hand, about guaranteeing a stake in the exercise of
Le processus de justice transitionnelle au Burundi: L'épreuve de son contexte politique
L'article explique pourquoi, seize ans après l'assassinat du président Ndadaye et le déclenchement de massacres et d'une guerre civile, aucun mécanisme de justice transitionnelle n'a encore été établi au Burundi alors que l'ONU et la société civile le demandent depuis longtemps et que l'accord d'Arusha pour la paix et la réconciliation de 2000, conformément aux nouvelles normes globales, prévoyait la création d'un tribunal pénal international et …
Power-Sharing, Conflict and Transition in Burundi: Twenty Years of Trial and Error
For the past twenty years, Burundi has experimented with power-sharing as an instrument of political liberalisation, democratisation and conflict resolution. This contribution analyses the different meanings the concept of power-sharing has had throughout Burundi's recent and extremely violent political transition, in particular during the lengthy peace process. It shows how national and international actors have found inspiration in the toolbox …
Le processus de justice transitionnelle au Burundi: L'épreuve de son contexte politique
L'article explique pourquoi, seize ans après l'assassinat du président Ndadaye et le déclenchement de massacres et d'une guerre civile, aucun mécanisme de justice transitionnelle n'a encore été établi au Burundi alors que l'ONU et la société civile le demandent depuis longtemps et que l'accord d'Arusha pour la paix et la réconciliation de 2000, conformément aux nouvelles normes globales, prévoyait la création d'un tribunal pénal international et …
Bypassing the Prohibition of Amnesty for Human Rights Crimes under International Law: Lessons Learned from the Burundi Peace Process
Focusing on the case of Burundi, this article analyses the effectiveness of the international prohibition of amnesty for serious human rights crimes at the national level, in the context of complex war-to-peace transitions based on power-sharing deals between former opponents. On the one hand, the amnesty prohibition has clearly affected Burundi's peace process and its proposed transitional justice process. The prohibition found its way into nati…
Power Sharing and Transitional Justice: A Clash of Paradigms
Recent peace negotiations practice has given rise to the emergence of two paradigms. In line with normative developments in global human rights protection, internationally brokered peace processes often address the options for accountability for abuses committed in the past and generally cannot include blanket amnesties. At the same time, many agreements end armed conflicts by offering power-sharing incentives for warring parties. In most cases, …
Power-sharing as a fragile safety valve in times of electoral turmoil: The costs and benefits of Burundi's 2010 elections
This paper analyses the local, presidential and legislative elections that took place in Burundi between May and September 2010. Electoral results are presented, analysed and interpreted against the background of Burundi's constitutional consociational power-sharing regime. The power-sharing arrangement, which was negotiated during Burundi's recently completed peace process, saved the pluralistic nature of the elections but may itself fall victim…
Burundi's Truth and Reconciliation Commission: How to Shed Light on the Past while Standing in the Dark Shadow of Politics
More than a decade after the signature of the 2000 Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, which announced the establishment of transitional justice mechanisms in Burundi, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is about to be launched. This note highlights how political factors and dynamics related to the peace process and to the 2010 general elections explain the timing as well as elements of the proposed mandate and composition of the f…
The African Union, Constitutionalism and Power-Sharing
Over the past decade, the African Union has put in place a normative framework to promote constitutional rule and, in particular, orderly constitutional transfers of power in its member states. Its Peace and Security Council opposes unconstitutional changes of government, including through the use of sanctions. The PSC systematically advocates a return to constitutional order, in particular through free and fair elections, as a remedy for unconst…
Law, power-sharing and human rights: Introduction to a special issue
The concept of power-sharing is complex and refers to widely divergent realities. In essence, however, all types of power-sharing are, on the one hand, about guaranteeing a stake in the exercise of
When interests meet norms: The relevance of human rights for peace and power-sharing
A typical feature of contemporary peace accords and power-sharing agreements are references to human rights. Using a data set of 82 peace agreements from 20 sub-Saharan African countries signed between 1989 and 2011, this article studies the prevalence, origin and relevance of human rights norms to power-sharing agreements. We argue that a fine balance needs to be struck between resolving conflicts and addressing human rights concerns. While most…
Governing ethnicity after genocide: Ethnic amnesia in Rwanda versus ethnic power-sharing in Burundi
A remarkable process of ethnic engineering has been taking place in neighbouring Burundi and Rwanda. After a failed democratization attempt in the early 1990s, both countries experienced an extremely violent transition process. Despite the many similarities between the two countries, they have adopted radically different approaches to address long-standing ethnic divisions. While Rwanda has opted for a policy based on ethnic amnesia and an integr…
Political Representation of Minorities as Collateral Damage or Gain: The Batwa in Burundi and Rwanda
There is a remarkable discrepancy between the political representation of the Batwa ethnic minority group in Burundi compared to in Rwanda. Whereas Rwanda's focus on citizenship prevents the Batwa from claiming recognition as a politically salient societal segment, Burundi's governance model, characterized by ethnic, consociational power-sharing, guarantees the political representation of the Batwa in the legislative assemblies. The difference is…
Burundi's electoral crisis – back to power-sharing politics as usual
RULING PARTY Conseil national pour la dfense de la dmocratie -Forces pour la dfense de la dmocratie (CNDD-FDD) designated incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza as its candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections, despite the fact that he had already completed two terms in office. The announcement that Nkurunziza planned to take a third term triggered an unprecedented series of demonstrations in Bujumbura, Burundi's capital city. Two month…
Museveni, Burundi and the Perversity of Immunité Provisoire
To enhance the inclusiveness of Burundi's political dialogue, Ugandan president and East African Community mediator Yoweri Museveni suggested granting temporary immunity to Burundian opponents living in exile, some of whom are wanted by the government for their participation in the May 2015 failed military coup attempt. While from a short-term conflictsettlement perspective this is a valuable suggestion, an analysis of Burundi's previous experien…
Legal Loopholes and the Politics of Executive Term Limits: Insights from Burundi
The nomination of incumbent Pierre Nkurunziza to stand again for president in the 2015 national elections triggered a political and security crisis in Burundi. A crucial element in the controversy around his third term was the legality of his candidacy. This paper analyses how domestic and international actors responded to the legal loopholes that characterised Burundi's term-limit legislation. Three responses are distinguished. First, quite para…
The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: Past, Present and Future
This article traces a genealogy of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) and examines the charter's overall implementation. While there has always been a struggle between competing views of how to ensure more or less continental accountability for norms related to democratic governance in Africa, enforcement by the African Union (AU) has definitively become more robust since the ACDEG's adoption. The article argues th…
Introduction: The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance at 10
On various continents, intergovernmental organizations resort to legal engineering in order to promote democratic governance in their member states. Those legal efforts operate in a fluctuating political and societal environment, which they seek to transform but which, in turn, shapes the authority, the effectiveness and even the very nature of the legal instruments. As this Special Issue shows, this process of mutual influencing between law and …
Veto power and power-sharing: Insights from Burundi (2000–2018)
Veto power is a key institutional pillar of consociational power-sharing. However, the literature is divided on its impact for institutional functionality. While the founding father of consociational theory, Arend Lijphart, expects veto rights to be exercised sparingly by segmental elites, more recent scholarship emphasizes the need for restrictions (in terms of veto players, veto issues, veto points and procedure) in order to avoid abusive and d…
The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: Trends, Challenges and Perspectives
This introduction to the Special Focus argues that more thorough and nuanced understandings of the past accomplishments and failures of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) are needed. The article contends that detailed accounts focusing on the practices of diverse actors and institutions within the ACDEG's multi-level governance framework and their - sometimes - frictional relations are necessary to develop appropri…
Ethnic Quotas and Foreign NGOs in Burundi: Shrinking Civic Space Framed as Affirmative Action
Since January 2017, foreign non-governmental organisations (ONGEs) active in Burundi are required to respect ethnic quotas (60 per cent Hutu, 40 per cent Tutsi) when employing local staff. The ethnic quota requirement was adopted amidst fears of re-ethnicisation of politics and society, enhanced control on civil society and tense relations between the Burundi government and its aid partners. While authorities justify the measure as a remedy for d…
Presidents, Ministers and Governors: Ethnic Quotas and the Evolution of Power-Sharing at Critical Junctures in Burundi
Building on an original dataset, this paper explores the evolution of the consociational power- sharing at critical junctures in Burundi. Covering almost two decades of power-sharing practice (2001–2020), this paper analyzes the allocation of high salience ministerial portfolios and of provincial governor positions along ethnic lines. The paper shows how quotas matter and how a changing political context affects the real life implementation of Bu…
Reserved Seats and Cooptation in Burundi (2000–2020)
Using a lifecycle perspective, this paper analyzes the use of reserved seats and the evolution of cooptation norms and practices in Burundi between the signature of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement in 2000 and the 2020 legislative elections. Value-driven objectives, such as minority protection, only partly explain their use and design. The adoption, functionality and recent transformation of electoral cooptation were also determined …
Women's Descriptive Representation in Burundi: The Mixed Effects of Gender Quotas
Building on original data collected for the period between 2001 and 2020, this article contributes to the research on the effectiveness of gender quotas. It does so, first, by looking into the salience of ministerial portfolios allocated to women, and, secondly, by examining the spillover effect of the gender quotas in positions where they do not apply. We find that the implementation of gender quotas gradually resulted in women being assigned to…
Judicial Design, Gender and Ethnicity: A Typology Applied to the Burundi Constitutional Court
This article examines the ethnic and gender quotas that have been applied to Burundi’s Constitutional Court since 2019. It shows that while gender quotas aim to make the court reflective or to remedy past injustices, ethnic quotas serve multiple roles: securing ethnic peace, de-escalating conflict or confirming power balances. Our analysis challenges scepticism about judicial quotas and independence, arguing that quotas do not inherently undermin…
Political science (22 works) · Law (20 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Politics (18 works) · Law (17 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (15 works) · Political economy (13 works) · Economics (11 works) · Global Peace and Security Dynamics (9 works) · Power sharing (9 works)