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Abstract
Ethnically divided societies that might be described as ‘balanced bicommunal’ (where there are two communities, each of which comes close to representing half of the population) pose a particular challenge to conventional principles of collective decision-making, and commonly threaten political stability. This article analyses the experience of two such societies – Northern Ireland and Fiji – with a view to exploring whether there are common processes in the route by which political stability has been pursued. We assess the manner in which a distinctive relationship with Great Britain and its political culture has interacted with local conditions to produce a highly competitive, bipolar party system. This leads to consideration of the devices that have been adopted in an effort to bridge the gap between the communities: the Fiji constitution as amended in 1997, and Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement of 1998. We focus, in particular, on the use of unusual (preferential voting) formulas for the election of parliamentarians and of an inclusive principle in the selection of ministers, and consider the contribution of these institutional devices to the attainment of political stability. We find that, in both cases, the intervention of forces from outside the political system had a decisive impact, though in very different ways. In addition to being underpinned by solid institutional design, for political settlements to work effectively, some minimal level of trust between rival elites is required.
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Notes on contributors
John Coakley
Jon Fraenkel is a Professor in Comparative Politics in the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington. He formerly worked at the Australian National University (2007–2012) and the University of the South Pacific in Fiji (1995–2007). He is author of The Manipulation of Custom: From Uprising to Intervention in the Solomon Islands and co-editor of The 2006 Military Takeover in Fiji: A Coup to End All Coups? His research focuses on the politics of the Pacific Islands region, institutional design in divided societies, ethnic politics, clientelism, women’s representation, and the economic history of Oceania. He is the Pacific Islands correspondent for The Economist.
John Coakley is Professor of Politics at University College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast. He specializes in the comparative study of nationalism and ethnic conflict. Recent publications include Nationalism, Ethnicity and the State: Making and Breaking Nations (Sage, 2012) and Reforming Political Institutions: Ireland in Comparative Perspective (IPA, 2013); he has recently edited or co-edited Pathways from Ethnic Conflict: Institutional Redesign in Divided Societies (Routledge, 2010), The Irish Presidency: Power, Ceremony and Politics (Irish Academic Press, 2014) and Breaking Patterns of Conflict: Britain, Ireland and the Northern Ireland Question (Routledge, 2014).
Jon Fraenkel
Jon Fraenkel is a Professor in Comparative Politics in the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington. He formerly worked at the Australian National University (2007–2012) and the University of the South Pacific in Fiji (1995–2007). He is author of The Manipulation of Custom: From Uprising to Intervention in the Solomon Islands and co-editor of The 2006 Military Takeover in Fiji: A Coup to End All Coups? His research focuses on the politics of the Pacific Islands region, institutional design in divided societies, ethnic politics, clientelism, women’s representation, and the economic history of Oceania. He is the Pacific Islands correspondent for The Economist.
John Coakley is Professor of Politics at University College Dublin and Queen’s University Belfast. He specializes in the comparative study of nationalism and ethnic conflict. Recent publications include Nationalism, Ethnicity and the State: Making and Breaking Nations (Sage, 2012) and Reforming Political Institutions: Ireland in Comparative Perspective (IPA, 2013); he has recently edited or co-edited Pathways from Ethnic Conflict: Institutional Redesign in Divided Societies (Routledge, 2010), The Irish Presidency: Power, Ceremony and Politics (Irish Academic Press, 2014) and Breaking Patterns of Conflict: Britain, Ireland and the Northern Ireland Question (Routledge, 2014).