The Contribution of other Eminent Scholars to Lijphart’s Power-Sharing Theory

Abstract

Power-sharing theory, which is both prescriptive and empirical, is one of the seminal democratic theories in political science in general and comparative politics in particular. The prescriptive approach of the theory recommends consociationalism to any country with deeply divided society. In other words, it serves to solve the problem of achieving and maintaining democratic stability in plural societies. As well it recommends consensus democracy to any country that is going to establish a democratic political system or that is going to change its model of democracy. Arend Lijphart is best known for his career-long dedication to formulate and develop power-sharing theory. In order to gain an in-depth understanding of the theory it should be considered that while his name is prominently associated with the development of it, there are several eminent scholars who simultaneously worked on power-sharing democracy and the development of the theory. While these scholars merely focused either on sociopolitical or political aspect of the theory, Lijphart concentrates on both aspects so that the theory is the product of this prima facie paradoxical overlapping. From this point of view, the intellectual contribution of these scholars is particularly considered in this article.