Power Sharing

• An intelligent sharing of power among

legislature, executive and judiciary is very
important to the design of democracy.
Two stories from Belgium and Sri Lanka
reflects about how democracies handle
demands for power sharing . We are also
going to discuss about needs and various
forms of power – sharing in a democracy.
 Belgium
• Belgium : It is a small European country borders
with France, the Netherlands, Germany and
Luxembourg.
• Ethnic composition :
• 59% lives in Flemish region and speaks Dutch
language.
• 40% lives in Wallonia region and speaks French
• 01% speaks German.
• In the capital city Brussels 80% people speak
French and 20 % are Dutch speaking.
• The minority French speaking community was
relatively rich and powerful.
• It was resented by Dutch speaking community
• This led to tensions between the two communities
during the 1950s and 1060s.
• Belgian leaders recognized the existence of
regional differences and cultural diversities and
amended the constitution four times so as to work
out an arrangement that would enable everyone
to live together within the same country.
 Belgian Model
• Constitution prescribes equal number of
ministers in the central government. No single
community can make decisions unilaterally.
• More power to the state government. State
governments are not subordinate to the
Central government.
• Brussels has a separate government with equal
representation from both the communities.
• Community government.
 Sri Lanka
• Sri Lanka is an Island country, just a few
kilometers off the southern coast of Tamil Nadu.
• Ethnic composition:
• Sinhala speakers 74%
• Tamil speakers 18% (Tamil natives or Sri Lankan
Tamils 13% and Indian Tamils 5%)
• Most of the Sinhala speaking people are
Buddhists while most of the Tamils are Hindus or
Muslims.
• 7% are Christians who are both Tamil and Sinhala.
 Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka
• Sri Lanka emerged as an independent country
in 1948. The democratically elected
government adopted a series of Majoritarian
measures to establish Sinhala supremacy.
• The Act of 1956 recognized – (a) Sinhala as the
only official language.
• (b) Preferential policies that favoured Sinhalas.
• State shall protect and foster Buddhism.
• This gradully inccreased the feeling of
alienation among the Sri Lankan Tamils.
 Reaction from Tamils
• Tamils felt that the major political parties led
by the Buddhist Sinhala leaders were not
sensitive to their language and culture.
• Government policies denied them equal
political rights, discriminated against them in
getting jobs and other opportunities and
ignored their interests.
• As a result the relation between the Sinhala
and Tamil communities strained over time.
• The Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and
struggles for the recognition of Tamil as an
official language, regional autonomy and
equality of opportunities in securing
education and jobs. But their demands were
repeatedly denied.
• By 1980s several political organizations were
formed demanding an independent Tamil
Eelam (State) in northern and eastern parts of
Sri Lanka.
 Impact of Civil War
• The distrust between the two communities
turned into widespread conflict. It soon turned
into a civil war. As a result thousands of people
of both the communities have been killed. Many
families were forced to leave the country as
refugees and many more lost their livelihood.
• The civil war has caused a terrible setback to the
social, cultural and economic life of the country.
• In Belgium the leaders have realized that the
unity of the country is possible only by
respecting the feelings and interests of
different communities and regions. Such a
realization resulted in mutually acceptable
arrangement for power sharing.
• But Sri Lankan example shows us that if a
majority community wants to force its
dominance over others and refuses to share
power, it can undermine the unity of the
country.
 Why power sharing is desirable?
• Two different sets of reasons can be given in favour of
power sharing.
• Prudential reason: Power sharing is good because it
reduce the possibility of conflicts between social
groups.
• Since social conflicts often leads to violence and
political instability, power sharing is a good way to
ensure the stability of political order.
• Tyranny of majority undermines the unity of the
country as well as often brings ruin to the majority as
well. It stress that power sharing will bring out better
outcomes.
 Why power sharing is desirable?
• Moral reason: Power sharing is the very spirit
of democracy. A democratic rule involves
sharing power with those affected by its
exercise, and who have to live with its effects.
People have a right to be consulted on how
they are to be governed.
• It emphasize the very act of power sharing as
valuable.
 Forms of Power Sharing
• Democracy believed that political power should be
distributed among as many citizens as possible.
• In modern democracies power sharing arrangements are
as follows:
• Power sharing among different organs of governments. It
is also called horizontal distribution of power . It is also
called a system of checks and balances.
• Power sharing among governments at different levels. It is
also called as federal divisions of power and vertical
division of power.
• Power may also be shared among different social groups
such as the religious and linguistic groups. It give them
space in government and administration.
 Forms of Power Sharing
• Power sharing among political parties,
pressure groups and movements. It is a way to
control or influence those in power. Power is
shared among political parties that represents
different ideologies and social groups.
• In a democracy interests groups such as those
of traders, businessmen, industrialists, farmers
and industrial workers have a share in
governmental power through direct and
indirect ways.