Adrian Guelke – författare

The establishment of durable, democratic institutions constitutes one of the major challenges of our age. As countless contemporary examples have shown, it requires far more than simply the holding of free elections. The consolidation of a legitimate constitutional order is difficult to achieve in any society, but it is especially problematic in societies with deep social cleavages.

This book provides an authoritative and systematic analysis of the politics of so-called ''deeply divided societies'' in the post Cold War era. From Bosnia to South Africa, Northern Ireland to Iraq, it explains why such places are so prone to political violence, and demonstrates why - even in times of peace - the fear of violence continues to shape attitudes, entrenching divisions in societies that already lack consensus on their political institutions.

Combining intellectual rigour and accessibility, it examines the challenge of establishing order and justice in such unstable environments, and critically assesses a range of political options available, from partition to power-sharing and various initiatives to promote integration. The Politics of Deeply Divided Societies is an ideal resource for students of comparative politics and related disciplines, as well as anyone with an interest in the dynamics of ethnic conflict and nationalism.

Peace Settlements and Political Transformation in Divided Societies examines what happened to Northern Ireland and South Africa after their miraculous political settlements in the 1990s, in which comparison between the two cases played a small but significant role.

The author extends the story by exploring the connections between these two deeply divided societies during the consolidation of their settlements. He shows the ways in which their paths have subsequently diverged in both reality and perception. At the outset of the transformation of the two polities, the similarities between the two cases tended to be overstated. In this context, the book explains how the South African case came to be misidentified as an example of consociationalism, and the influence that this has continued to exert on comparative studies of power-sharing. In the process, other aspects of South Africa''s political transformation, including respect for the constitution and the rule of law, have been overlooked and underappreciated. In the case of Northern Ireland, a missing element in the treatment of its settlement as a model for other deeply divided societies has been the role that external mediation played in the creation and survival of its institutions. Northern Ireland''s dependence on favourable external circumstances explains in large part why the Good Friday Agreement is now facing a threat to its survival. By contrast, South Africa''s political institutions seem relatively secure, despite the vast scale of the country''s socio-economic problems.

This book will be of interest to students, researchers and scholars of conflict resolution and peace processes, comparative politics, ethnic politics and democratisation, as well as those involved in the governance of deeply divided societies.

Peace Settlements and Political Transformation in Divided Societies examines what happened to Northern Ireland and South Africa after their miraculous political settlements in the 1990s, in which comparison between the two cases played a small but significant role.

The author extends the story by exploring the connections between these two deeply divided societies during the consolidation of their settlements. He shows the ways in which their paths have subsequently diverged in both reality and perception. At the outset of the transformation of the two polities, the similarities between the two cases tended to be overstated. In this context, the book explains how the South African case came to be misidentified as an example of consociationalism, and the influence that this has continued to exert on comparative studies of power-sharing. In the process, other aspects of South Africa''s political transformation, including respect for the constitution and the rule of law, have been overlooked and underappreciated. In the case of Northern Ireland, a missing element in the treatment of its settlement as a model for other deeply divided societies has been the role that external mediation played in the creation and survival of its institutions. Northern Ireland''s dependence on favourable external circumstances explains in large part why the Good Friday Agreement is now facing a threat to its survival. By contrast, South Africa''s political institutions seem relatively secure, despite the vast scale of the country''s socio-economic problems.

This book will be of interest to students, researchers and scholars of conflict resolution and peace processes, comparative politics, ethnic politics and democratisation, as well as those involved in the governance of deeply divided societies.