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Debating Consociational Politics: Normative and Explanatory Arguments
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patriarchy, whereas consociationalists fear that integrationists will provoke avoidable wars and are biased in favour of dominant communities.
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The intensity with which this debate has
raged attests to the influence of consociational thought. It certainly belies the claim that consociationalism is irrelevant. The test of concepts, taxonomies and theories in the social and legal sciences is twofold: i.e., whether they serve worthwhile explanatory or normative purposes. The claim of this essay is that the exponents of consociation, when their case is put carefully, can successfully rebut the wilder charges made against their moral and political positions. Consociations, simple or complex, are certainly difficult to love and celebrate – even if their makers often fully merit intellectual, moral and political admiration. They are, after all, usually cold bargains, even if they may be tempered by political imagination. Ardent secessionists and uncompromising unionists might profitably be counselled that their efforts may land them with these systems if they fail to win on the battlefield. As for the explanation of consociations, it is fair to say that while significant preliminary work has been done, a comprehensive comparative historical analysis of consociational settlements and their outcomes remains to be completed. It will be no bad thing if further consociational research and practice reduces, by no matter what small amount, the tides of national, ethnic, religious, and communal blood that regrettably seem certain to flow in our times.
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McGarry and O’Leary, Consociational Engagements, ch. 1.
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| | Authors: O'Leary, Brendan. |
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41
patriarchy, whereas consociationalists fear that integrationists will provoke avoidable wars
and are biased in favour of dominant communities.
71
The intensity with which this debate has
raged attests to the influence of consociational thought. It certainly belies the claim that
consociationalism is irrelevant.
The test of concepts, taxonomies and theories in the social and legal sciences is twofold: i.e.,
whether they serve worthwhile explanatory or normative purposes. The claim of this essay is
that the exponents of consociation, when their case is put carefully, can successfully rebut the
wilder charges made against their moral and political positions. Consociations, simple or
complex, are certainly difficult to love and celebrate – even if their makers often fully merit
intellectual, moral and political admiration. They are, after all, usually cold bargains, even if
they may be tempered by political imagination. Ardent secessionists and uncompromising
unionists might profitably be counselled that their efforts may land them with these systems
if they fail to win on the battlefield. As for the explanation of consociations, it is fair to say
that while significant preliminary work has been done, a comprehensive comparative
historical analysis of consociational settlements and their outcomes remains to be completed.
It will be no bad thing if further consociational research and practice reduces, by no matter
what small amount, the tides of national, ethnic, religious, and communal blood that
regrettably seem certain to flow in our times.
71
McGarry and O’Leary, Consociational Engagements, ch. 1.
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