The Politics of Association

The article studies how power-sharing institutions can foster the depoliticization of ethnicity after ethnic conflicts. Building on a constructivist and neo-institutionalist theoretical framework, it argues that the depoliticization of ethnicity can be fostered by power-sharing systems combining: (1) guarantees for the ethnic representativeness of political institutions and the security of all ethnic categories, and (2) institutional mechanisms that incentivize the reorientation of political alliances on a multi-ethnic basis. The case of Burundi provides a plausibility probe for the argument. The article suggests the existence of an ‘associational’ model of power-sharing, where ethnic conflict is transformed by the depoliticization of ethnicity

Argument (complex analysis · Ethnic group · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Power sharing · Representativeness heuristic · Sociology · International Development and Aid · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Political Conflict and Governance · Psychology · Social Psychology

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