Power-Sharing as a Tool of Conflict Management: The Experience of Northern Ireland and South Tyrol

In deeply divided societies, power-sharing is often promoted as a tool of conflict management. These societies, which tend to be characterised by ethnic, linguistic and/or religious divisions, are often marked by periods of intrastate conflict and political instability, necessitating more imaginative thinking vis-à-vis the management of diversity and political institutions to enhance democratic stability. Drawing on the cases of Northern Ireland and South Tyrol – two examples of regional consociations in complex power-sharing systems – this chapter examines the experience of power-sharing as a tool of conflict management. The analysis highlights the efficacy of (regional) consociationalism as a diversity accommodation tool and argues that while power-sharing is not a panacea, it can prove a powerful and transformative tool for conflict management in divided places.