Consociational Theory. In the post-Cold War period a new era of sociopolitical transformation has emerged in the world and parameters like social inclusion, politics of participation, social justice began to be taken into account by the practitioners of conflict resolution (Xxxxxxxxxx & Xxxxx, 1994) (Xxxxxxxx, 1996). GFA is one such an example of this new approach. As it was partly explained before, but it will be analysed more in detail, the complementarity between elite power- sharing and grassroots contribution to the end result is essential for reaching a sustainable peace and accommodate both traditions especially in protracted ethno- political conflicts as it was the case in Northern Ireland. Consociational theory is an empirically grounded normative theory that, through promoting power sharing of a specific kind, promises a democratic solution to societies confronted by durable ethnic division and political conflict. Consociationalism represents one of the strongest and widely discussed research programmes. Consociationalism is one of the leading models of managing ethnically divided societies. It has been formulated and developed most notably by Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx in his article entitled “Consociational Democracy” in World Politics in 1969 (Lijphart, 1969). Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx, after articulating the political criterion defining consociation as a grand coalition cabinet, expanded his definition, and added three more criteria, as mutual veto on the part of the coexisting groups, proportionality as the principal standard of political representation, civil service appointment and allocation of public resources, and a high degree of segmental autonomy (Xxxxxxxx, 1977, pp. 25-47). However, how successful is the Northern Ireland case, and how long will it last, and despite its imperfections and certain shortcomings, could the Good Friday Agreement be qualified as a successful and sustainable solution? These are all legitimate questions. One of the criticisms directed at this approach is that, it does not provide critical intent to move beyond political accommodation and conflict management to integration and transformation (Xxxxxx, 2001, pp. 37-52). However, Xxxxxx himself, argues that consociationalism is at the heart of academic and political debate on the Northern Ireland conflict. He goes on further asserting that this is also due to the efforts of two highly regarded political scientists, Xxxx XxXxxxx and Xxxxxxx O‟Xxxxx. Xxxxxx also maintains in the „Introduction‟ of the book ent...
