Divided Cultures or Divided Societies? The Case of Cyprus

Communication Across Conflict Lines: The Case of Ethnically Divided Cyprus

The history of ethno-national conflict on the ethnically divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus has decisively marked the communication process between the major stakeholders in the conflict, but most of all, and in a profound way, between the two Cypriot communities, namely, between Greek Cypriots (G/Cs) and Turkish Cypriots (T/Cs). The so-called Green Line, which ethnically divides the capita...

Constitutional Design for Divided Societies

Over the past half-century, democratic constitutional design has undergone a sea change. After the Second World War, newly independent countries tended simply to copy the basic constitutional rules of their former colonial masters, without seriously considering alternatives. Today, constitution writers choose more deliberately among a wide array of constitutional models, with various advantages...

Electoral Systems for Divided Societies

What kinds of electoral systems can help democracy survive in countries split by deep cleavages of race, religion, language, or ethnicity? As is well-known, politicians in such “divided societies” often have strong incentives to “play the ethnic card” at election time, using communal appeals to mobilize voters. “Outbidding”—increasingly extreme rhetoric and demands—can offer rewards greater tha...

Political Accountability in Divided Societies: The Politics of Fear

I present a model in which the combination of divided societies and weak institutions in the form of "Personal Rule" regimes creates a failure of accountability of the leadership. As a consequence, the ruler can construct a kleptocratic regime in which he can steal from the citizens, included his own supporters, even though he needs them to survive politically. The model also predicts extensive...

Territorial Approaches to Conflict Resolution in Divided Societies