Consociational democracy, citizenship and the role of the EU in Kosovo’s contested state-building

Authors

  • Bekim Baliqi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30722/anzjes.vol11.iss1.15209

Keywords:

Kosovo, consociationalism, citizenship, European Union, ethnic relations, state-building

Abstract

Consociational democracy has increasingly been adopted as a useful approach for conflict transformation in ethnic and violently divided societies. Its ultimate purpose is to turn former rivals into governing allies by providing power-sharing arrangements. Through theoretically driven process tracing, based on Kosovo as a case study, this article explores whether and how consociationalism has affected peace- and state-building. By examining its application through institutional design, it investigates citizenship policy and the role of the European Union on fostering a multi-ethnic society. The article argues that the existing corporate consociational model has institutionalised ethnicity challenging democracy and statehood, and did not promote a shared identity. Therefore, to overcome ethnic division and strengthen state legitimacy, the paper proposes a modification of consociational democracy into a liberal type promoted by a more persuasive role of the EU.

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Published

2021-02-07

Issue

Section

Articles