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Leonhardt van Efferink is a PhD student at Royal Holloway, University of London. For more information about his PhD, please check:
Leonhardt van Efferink: Geopolitical scripts and the (de)legitimisation of ISAF
He holds Master’s degrees in Geopolitics, Territory and Security (King’s College London) and Financial Economics (Erasmus University Rotterdam).
This article addresses the role that democratisation can play in the settlement of ethnic conflicts. It starts with a discussion of the critical concepts: ethnicity, ethnic conflicts, democracy and democratisation. Then the paper continues with a discussion of the central question: what factors affect the effectiveness of democratisation in terms of the settlement of ethnic conflicts?
This is part 3 of the article that discusses six factors that affect the effectiveness of democratisation to settle ethnic conflicts. The first part discusses the definitions of the latter two concepts, while part 2 address six other relevant factors. Part 4 provides the conclusion, bibliography and endnotes of this article.
Another key factor, related to the previous one, is the collective memory of ethnic groups involved in the conflict. Conflicting constructions of the past can make it very difficult to successfully democratise a country in order to settle a conflict. One way to tackle these problems is the creation of new views on the past for the whole population, while concurrently stimulating the ethnic groups to forget their collective memories[20]. Such a policy could bring more harmony among the different ethnic groups.
An alternative point of view supports measures to prevent the neglect of history[21]. Violent events during the ethnic conflict need to be openly admitted and discussed in order to enable ethnic groups to forgive the perpetrators of violence and forgive them. The opposing viewpoints show the difficulty in dealing with memories when seeking a resolution of an ethnic conflict.
The relations within ethnic groups are also an important factor. Leaders of ethnic groups play a critical role in the eventual success of conflict settlement agreements. Therefore, they should have a moderate stance, in terms of both willingness to compromise and ethnic identity[22]. Moreover, they need to be structurally committed to peace and have sufficient authority among their people to create widespread support and deal effectively with possible resistance against a compromise in the group[23]. Preferences of elites regarding decision-making, coalition-building and mass mobilisation determine how democratisation will eventually work out in a country[24].
Usually, the majority of members of the ethnic groups involved in a conflict are generally not taking part in the hostilities[25]. Ethnic conflicts are generally fought by relatively few fighters, presumably adhering to the preferences of the ethnic group as a whole. This situation gives small armed groups considerable power over their majority of moderates of their own ethnic group. The perception that all members of the ethnic groups involved in a conflict are actively engaged in fighting other ethnic groups can incorrectly give rise to the idea that mediation between ethnic leaders will be ineffective[26].
The presence of certain ethnic groups in the previous government and army of democratising countries also influences the effect of democratisation. The ethnic composition of the previous regime usually has a strong impact on the intensity of ethnic tensions[27]. The regime could be either dominated by a majority or minority ethnic group, or consist of several ethnic groups.
Moreover, the ethnic makeup of the army could affect the democratisation process, as the military may be able to water down or prevent any proposed change to the political system. Democratisation can reduce ethnic tensions much more easily if the army serves the state and not any ethnic group[28].
The territorial distribution of ethnic groups is also an important variable in the light of the central question. The effects of democratisation after an ethnic conflict partially depend, just like the nature of the preceding ethnic conflict, on the overlap between ethnic groups and specific territories[29].
The existence abroad of many members of ethnic groups involved in the conflict can severely complicate the settlement of an ethnic conflict by means of democratisation[30]. Furthermore, the democratisation process could be very difficult when past government has sought to support its power by either settling ethnic groups in or chasing others away from certain areas[31].
The economic position of ethnic groups involved in an ethnic conflict further influences the conflict settlement potential of democratisation. Resentments of involved ethnic groups about their economic position are usually among the underlying sources of an ethnic conflict[32].
In addition, the nature of an ethnic conflict is partially related to the social classes of ethnic groups.[33] Accordingly, democratisation should be accompanied by measures to boost economic growth [34] and reduce social and economic inequalities between ethnic groups.
The last factor this paper addresses is very hard to measure and to influence, but critical to the success of any conflict settlement: trust. Each democratisation process needs to take into account that family and kin ties have a limiting effect on trust of the members of an ethnic group in the national state[35]. The pressure that members of an ethnic group feel to support their kin mean that imposing a power sharing deal on ethnic groups can result in (renewed) inter-ethnic violence. In addition, civil society in post-conflict countries is either extremely polarised or completely absent.
As a consequence, creating effective democratic institutions could take many years as the required reconciliation and development of trust between the ethnic groups could take that long[36]. This makes reconciliation between ethnic groups and the restoring of trust in civil society critical when democratisation seeks to settle an ethnic conflict[37].
The first part of the article discusses the definitions of democratisation and ethnic conflicts. Parts 2 and 3 each address six relevant factors that are relevant for the usefulness of democratisation to settle ethnic conflicts. Part 4 provides the conclusion, bibliography and endnotes of this article.
