Arend Lijphart

Arend Lijphart is Research Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego. Lijphart is a world renowned political scientist specializing in the prospects of democracy in ethnically and religiously divided societies like Belgium, Switzerland, Israel, Lebanon, South Africa, and India; on different forms of democracy -- especially the contrast between majoritarian and consensus democracy -- and their strengths and weaknesses; on the political consequences of electoral systems; and on voting participation. Besides its theoretical value, this work has had important practical implications for constitutional engineering. He is the leading authority on consociationalism, or the ways in which segmented societies manage to sustain democracy through power-sharing. Lijphart developed this concept in his first major work, The Politics of Accommodation, a study of the Dutch political system, and further developed his arguments in Democracy in Plural Societies. His later work has focused on the broader contrasts between majoritarian and "consensus" democracies. While Lijphart advocated consociationalism primarily for societies deeply divided along ethnic, religious, ideological, or other cleavages, he sees consensus democracy as appropriate for any society with a consensual political culture. In contrast to majoritarian democracies, consensus democracies have multiparty systems, parliamentarism with oversized (and therefore inclusive) cabinet coalitions, proportional electoral systems, corporatist (hierarchical) interest group structures, federal structures, bicameralism, rigid constitutions protected by judicial review, and independent central banks. These institutions ensure, firstly, that only a broad supermajority can control policy and, secondly, that once a coalition takes power, its ability to infringe on minority rights is limited. In Patterns of Democracy (1999, 2nd ed., 2012), Lijphart classifies thirty-six democracies using these attributes. He finds consensus democracies to be "kinder, gentler" states, having lower incarceration rates, less use of the death penalty, better care for the environment, more foreign aid work, and more welfare spending - qualities he feels "should appeal to all democrats". He also finds that consensus democracies have a less abrasive political culture, more functional business-like proceedings, and a results-oriented ethic. Lijphart has also made influential contributions to methodological debates within comparative politics. In 1995-96 Lijphart served as President of the American Political Science Association. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland, and Ghent University in Belgium.