¿Por qué si hay sociedades multiétnicas no están en guerra civil permanentemente?

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Ethnic groups struggle for political inclusion and the paramount need is to find a way of giving all groups some stake in the system, including both majorities and minorities, and to avoid all kind of permanent political hegemonies at the center: that means that power should be open to rotation. This can be done through various constitutional and electoral arrangements depending on the circumstances, but the corner stone is always providing “guarantees of nondiscrimination on ethnic, religious, or radical grounds as well as the opportunity to express and develop minority cultures and languages”. In return, the leaders are obligated to affirm the legitimacy and territorial integrity of the state.

To achieve the goal of giving everyone a voice in the political decision making process or some substantial devolution of power, Horrowitz propose a “democratic remediation”, a kind of federalism. The key is to design political institutions so as to make moderation pay, even for leaders who have no intrinsic inclination toward it. That leads to an emergence of more multiethnic political coalitions that alternate in power over time and that will bring multiple groups into political power and keep them mutually dependent on one another: a system of checks and balances. The enormous potential value of federalism, Horrowitz argued, is that it can create incentives and opportunities for interethnic cooperation, promote alignments on nonethnic interests, and through redistribution from the center to the state may reduce material disparities among ethnic groups. Decentralization permits groups that may have no hope of being prominent in the central government to have so venue to express their cultural distinctiveness, some control over their own affairs, and some resources to apply toward them.

It is important to consider the ethnic-conflict management in an international context. Neighboring states and international community in general have a critical role to play in ensuring that minorities are treated fairly. Making agreements with neighbors, mutually guaranteeing the rights of resident minorities and renouncing any territorial pretensions, is a way too of evading civil wars. The actual regional and international organizations such as the United Nations can monitor and formally codify minority rights as well as mediate interethnic disputes

In conclusion, ethnic conflicts can be resolved in order to avoid civil wars. Many politicians use ethnicity as an instrument for accomplishing their plans and promote their personal interests, but it is institutions job to repel this actions. Federalism and democratic consensus can be both an allies for arrange an agreement between all diverse groups when correctly and implemented and at the precise time.

Bibliografía

Diamond, Larry, y Marc F. Plattner. Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Democracy. 1994.

Kasfir, Nelson. Explaining ethnic political participation. 1979.