CONSOCIATIONAL DEMOCRACY

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CONSOCIATIONAL DEMOCRACY
Lecture 16
Politics and Governance in Netherlands, Belgium,
Austria, Switzerland
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Objectives

• knowledge of
• the consociational model
• its empirical fit
• further understanding of the span of variation in
  liberal-democratic politics and governance
• Concepts consociational politics elite
  accommodation proporz sub-cultural autonomy

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Introduction

• Consociational Democracy- one of the few models
  explaining WE politics and government
• Originally set up by Lijphart, The Politics of
  Accommodation (1968)
• Aim to explain functioning - governance in
  small countries with deep cleavages

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Issues

• Pluralism governments allow groups to articulate
  interests but no special favours are given
• Corporatism key groups or organizations have
  institutionalized roles and are built in the
  political process
• Consociationalism the inclusion of deeply
  divided groups in the political framework

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Features of Consociationalism

• Interest aggregation in a state with major
  internal divisions (ethnic, religious,
  linguistic)
• Institutional features of
• asymmetric bicameralism
• balanced executive and legislative power,
  decentralization
• proportional representation
• constitutionally guaranteed rights for minorities
• judicial review
• Nowadays often seen as important part of
  consensus democracy (corporatism)

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Typologies

• Almonds typology of political systems (1956)
  three types of Western democratic systems
• Anglo-american (US, UK) a homogenous secular
  political culture and a highly differentiated
  role structure for governmental agencies,
  parties, interest groups and media high degree
  of stability and effectiveness
• Continental European (France, Germany, Italy)
  fragmented political culture, with separate
  sub-cultures unstable
• Scandinavian and Low Countries in between the
  two models differentiated role structure for
  subcultures stable and efficient

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The problem

• General assumption in liberal-democratic theory
• cross-cutting cleavages ensure stability of a
  polity
• overlapping memberships force tolerance and
  mediation
• BUT In Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and
  Switzerland cleavages are rather parallel,
  creating segmented groups
• Cleavage structure based on religion, class /or
  language established distinct communities
• little contact to each other breeding ground for
  hostility
• So what explains the relative stability in
  theses fragmented systems?

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The Netherlands

• Complex cleavage structure based on religion and
  class
• Catholic/protestant (Calvinist)
• Clerical/secular
• Middle class/working class

Four Pillars Verzuiling
catholic
calvinist
liberal
socialist
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Belgium

• Traditional cleavage structure based on religion
  and class
• Clerical (75 cath.)/1 prot./anti-clerical (20
  agnost.)
• Middle class/working class
• Key event Brabant revolution 1789

Three sub-cultures
French speaking
Flemish speaking
catholic
liberal
socialist
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Austria

• Bitter cleavages based on religion and class
  persistent German nationalism
• Gives rise to three Lager
• Catholic/middle-class
• Socialists/anti-clerical
• German nationalists
• Key experience civil war during 1930s and
  dictatorship
• Fear of recurrence after 1945 dominated Austrian
  elite politics until mid-1960s

socialist
catholic
German nationalists
Three Lager
catholic
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Switzerland

• Deep seated cleavages based on language and
  religion non-violent (but 1847)

Three nations
Languages German French Italian Romanesch
Protestant (55)
Catholic (45)
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Question

• How do these countries, where the cleavage
  structure appears to have the capacity to cause
  severe political confrontations even civil war
  manage to operate as stable polities?

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Consociationalism and elites

• Elites play prominent role in consociational
  politics
• Elites learn from disasters caused by violent
  cleavage struggle
• Policies are a deliberate joint effort to
  stabilize the system and avoid confrontation
• Implemented through advisory councils and
  committees
• Dahrendorf a cartel of elites

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Consociational Democracy
Ljjphart Model I (1968)

• electorate elite
• 2 cleavages recognize political danger
• parallel cleavages committed to maintaining
  the national state and democratic
  politics
• distinct communities transcend cleavages
• with group identities
• inter-group hostility accommodationist
  political strategies
• accept authority of group leaders government by
  elite cartel

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Misfit of model I

• Belgium new cleavage pattern (language)
• Switzerland absence of civic unrest
• Austria opposition politics after 1966
• Netherlands depillarization after 1970s

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Ljjpharts Model II (1982)

• Why a second model?
• L.s reaction to misfit theoretical critique
• e.g. what if political elites were responsible
  for creating the sub-cultures and hostility?
• Contrary evidence (s.a.)
• The new model
• De-emphasised mass level
• Explanatory weight on elites
• Based on four principles of political method

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The four principles

• Grand coalition government
• General political willingness to cooperate
• Backed by elaborate system of advisory councils
  and committees in which all parties participate
• Sub-cultural political autonomy
• Culturally distinct groups allowed considerable
  autonomy (e.g. religious teaching at school or in
  local language)
• Where divisions geographic, federal political
  form proved to be most suitable
• Proportionality proporz
• All public resources allocated in strict
  proportion between the communities (i.e.
  government funds, jobs, services)
• Where communities are unequal in size, then
  minority is given parity or to be
  over-represented
• Minority veto
• Minorities have veto over policy matters on vital
  interests

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• Lijphart
• The essential characteristics of a
  consociational democracy is not so much any
  particular institutional arrangement as
  overarching cooperation on the elite level with
  the deliberative aim of counteracting
  disintegrative tendencies in the system
• The Politics of Accommodation (1968)

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• Dahl
• The possibility of violence and civil war always
  lurks as a special danger in countries with
  hostile sub-cultures and this danger undoubtedly
  stimulates a search for alternative responses
• Political Opposition in Western Democracies (1968)

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Consociational arrangements
Netherlands

• Bitter conflicts prior 1917 about suffrage and
  religious education
• 1917 Pacification Pact (universal suffrage,
  proportional school funding)
• Since 1917, Dutch parliament has had between 8-13
  parties anything from four to eight party system
• 1945-65 The politics of Verzuiling
• Most governments represented by 4party
  coalitions
• Proportional allocation of funds for communities
• Organizations for each of the communities
• No attempt to integrate communities
• Policy questions settled by negotiation between
  elites and sub-cultures
• elite crisis summits
• Social and Economic Council (15 each Socialists,
  Catholics, employers and government)

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Consociational demise
Netherlands

• rapid depillarization after 1970s
• compulsory voting abolished
• religious parties formed CDA
• Church attendance dropped from 51 (1960s) to 17
  (today)
• Growth of protest parties (D66), aiming to
  reduce elite domination of Dutch politics
• Dominant form of government since mid-1970s
  CDA-VVD or CDA-PvdA coalitions
• Growth of independent media
• Dutch politics still very fragmented but in
  fact three dominant and several minor parties
• The end of consensus?
• assassination of Pim Fortuyn (2002) and van Gogh
  (2004)
• Issues with Islam

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Communities and Major Parties

• Netherlands verzuiling
• Catholic Catholic Peoples Party KVP
• Calvinist Christian Historical Union CHU
• Anti-Revolutionary Party ARP
• Socialist Labour Party PvdA
• Liberal (anti-clerical) Liberal Party VVD
• Belgium mondes
• Catholic Christian Peoples Party CVP
• Liberal (anti-clerical) Liberal Party PVV
• Socialist Socialist Party PSB
• Flemish Volksunie VU
• Wallon Wallon Rally
• French Francophone Democratic Front FDF

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Consociational arrangements
Belgium

• Prior to 1958, Belgian politics dominated by
  religious issues
• 1958 Schools Pact (public funding for all
  schools)
• mondes regional councils (Wallonia, Flanders,
  and Brussels)
• Community Councils (Flemish, French, and German)
• 1978 Pacte Communitaire

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Consociational demise
Belgium

• by late 1960s/early 1970s becoming clear that the
  old cleavage pattern (religion and class) was
  being replaced by a new cleavage pattern
  (territorial-linguistic), which the traditional
  parties failed to manage
• Volksunie (1961) and Rassemblement Wallon
  (1968)
• Success of extreme right Vlaams Blok/Belang
• National parties split into french/dutch parts
  around 1970
• Today politics dominated by language divide,
  growing political distrust and constitutional
  crisis
• unitary -gt neo-federal state -gt federal state

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Belgium Regions and Communities

• Three regions
• Walloon Region
• Flemish Region
• Capital Region
• Three communities
• Flemish Community
• French Community
• German Community
• Merger of Flemish Region/Community
• Overlap of Flemish/French Community in Brussels
• German Community part of Wallonia

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Consociational arrangements
Austria

• Grand coalitions until 1966
• Main decision-making body Coalition committee
  (top catholic and socialist leaders equally
  represented)
• Model for proporz (in all parts of society)

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Consociational demise
Austria

• after 1966, the post-war tradition of Grand
  coalitions gave way to opposition politics (end
  of strong proporz)
• 1966-83 single party governments
• 1983-87 SPÖ/FPÖ coalition
• 1987-2000 Grand Coalition
• 2000-2006/07 ÖVP/FPÖ 2007- GC
• Lager structure weakening (50 still secured in
  sub-culture)
• Parity Commission (setting overall economic
  strategy) still in place

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Communities and Major Parties

• Austria lager
• Catholics Peoples Party ÖVP
• Socialist (anti-clerical) Social Dem. Party SPÖ
• Nationalist/(liberal) Freedom Party FPÖ
• Switzerland cantons
• Catholics Christian Dem. Party CVP
• Socialist Social Dem. Party SPS
• Liberal Radical Dem. Party FDP
• Conservative Swiss Peoples Party SVP

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Consociational arrangements
Switzerland

• Oldest European federation (1848)
• Consociational arrangements in place before party
  system emerged
• 26 cantons (20 full 6 half)
• (Con-)federal state cantons centre of politics
• Party structure strongly federalised
• Federal council
• weak central government (federal council)
• multi-member executive (7 members from 4 parties
  - 2221)
• Zauberformel 1959-2003
• Switzerland absence of civic unrest suggests
  interest clash on elite level only

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Assessment fit of Lijphart Models

• I sub-cultural communities national identity
  inter-communal hostility elites
• II grand coalitions political autonomy
  proporz minority veto elites
• NOT an exact fit to any of the countries but a
  useful tool for simplification

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Summary consociationalism

• Important variation on liberal-democratic model
• Group of countries where cleavage structure has
  impeded the nationalization of politics
• Analysis of elite behaviour and conflict
• Analytic language