Veto power and power-sharing: insights from Burundi (2000–2018)

Veto power is a key institutional pillar of consociational power-sharing. However, the literature is divided on its impact for institutional functionality. While the founding father of consociational theory, Arend Lijphart, expects veto rights to be exercised sparingly by segmental elites, more recent scholarship emphasizes the need for restrictions (in terms of veto players, veto issues, veto points and procedure) in order to avoid abusive and disruptive veto practice. Burundi’s transition from ethnic conflict to ethnic pacification was strongly based on the use of military and political power-sharing, including consociationalism. This article examines the design of veto rights and their practice in Burundi over the past two decades. The analysis confirms that the institutional design of veto power matters, but it counters the hypothesis that a too enabling veto design induces the abuse of veto rights and disrupts consociational functionality. The Burundi case-study shows that the impact and “shelf-life” of veto rights are best understood by taking into consideration the intersection of veto power with other power-sharing institutions and practices, both formal and informal.     

Women and (in)security: The case of the Philippines

Abstract

This paper takes as its starting point the need to address a gender void and northern‐centrism in the new/critical security agenda. Basing the paper on the security priorities of women in the Philippines, presented in the form of a ‘Security Pillar’, the paper examines how far new/critical security, and feminist security literature incorporates the concerns of women in Southeast Asia in the reconceptualization of security, and considers the ways in which security can be reformulated to address the security needs of women in Southeast Asia.     

Consociational settlements in deeply divided societies: the liberal-corporate distinction

Consociationalism is often proposed for societies deeply divided along ethnic lines, yet its recommendation remains contentious. Critics argue that it has a low rate of adoption, results in political immobilism, and entrenches the divisions it seeks to alleviate. Overlooked in much of the criticism, however, is the distinction between liberal and corporate forms of consociationalism, alternatively premised on the self-determination or predetermination of the ethnic groups involved in power-sharing. The article considers whether the critiques apply equally to both versions. Corporate consociation freezes a particular inter-group configuration in time, leading to drawn-out executive formation and, in some cases, to a cementing of divisions. However, liberal consociation runs into its own difficulties: consociational settlements are generally negotiated at the very point at which group identities are most politically salient and divisive. Under these conditions, groups are unlikely to settle for anything other than a guarantee of their share in power, thus making liberal consociationalism less likely to be adopted in negotiated settlements. The article also considers the factors enhancing the adoption of liberal consociational rules.     

Counter-terrorism policing: towards social cohesion

This article overviews a large, 3-year study conducted by Monash University and Victoria Police on Counter-Terrorism Policing and Culturally Diverse Communities. It sets out the development of a social cohesion approach to counter-terrorism policing based on extensive empirical research with police members, culturally diverse communities and through the close reading of counter-terrorism law and policy in Australia.