DESIGNING ETHNOCULTURAL IDENTITIES IN DIVIDED SOCIETIES AND CONSOCIATIONAL DEMOCRACY AS A POSSIBILITY

Abstract

The management of ethnocultural diversity and design of related identities constitute one of the most fundamental questions of contemporary political science and constitutional law. Many countries in today’s world, albeit in different versions and degrees, are faced with challenges caused by ethnocultural identities that have transformed into political identities. Demands and problems arising in the line of ethnocultural identities occupy the agenda of many developed and developing countries. This article aims to highlight the most realistic and democratic method and strategy for such management and design through researching approaches and methods employed for ethnocultural identities in ethnoculturally deeply divided societies. In this context, following a brief explanation of the concept of a divided society, a macro-political analysis will be used to determine the main approaches and methods. Methods and strategies used by democratic states for ethnocultural diversity will be discussed under two general approaches: Integration, which advocates the policy of single identity in the public sphere, and accommodation, which protects diversity and advocates multiple identity in the public sphere. Following will be an examination as to whether the consociational power-sharing method is best suited as a design for ethnocultural identities in divided societies.