This book evaluates the performance of consociational power-sharing arrangements in Europe. Under what conditions do consociational arrangements come in and out of being? How do consociational arrangements work in practice? The volume assesses how consociationalism is adopted, how it functions, and how it reforms or ends. Chapters cover early adopters of consociationalism, including both those which moved on to other institutional designs (the Netherlands, Austria) as well as those that continue to use consociational processes to manage their differences (Belgium, Switzerland, South Tyrol). Also analysed are ‘new wave’ cases where consociationalism was adopted after violent internal conflict (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland) and cases of unresolved conflict where consociationalism may yet help mediate ongoing divisions (Cyprus, Spain).

Soeren Keil is Reader in Politics and International Relations, Canterbury Christ Church University, United Kingdom.

Allison McCulloch is Associate Professor in Political Science, Brandon University, Canada.

“The accurate collection of chapters edited by Soeren Keil and Allison McCulloch provides more and less versed students with fresh theoretical framing and new case-based evidence. It re-evaluates critiques and expands the frontiers of research on power sharing … . The book offers compelling insights on power-sharing democracies in Europe. Its theoretical framework and empirical analyses constitute an informative source for those interested in democracy and divided societies.” (Guido Panzano, Acta Politica, Vol. 57, 2022)

“This is a valuable edited book … . The editors side-step theoretical complications, and in the process come up with an incisive set of questions, interesting descriptive mapping and make good progress towards a meaningful typology of cases, while presenting us with a fascinating set of substantive chapters.” (Jennifer Todd, Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft,Vol. 15 (3), October, 2021)

“Power-Sharing in Europe: Past Practice, Present Cases and Future Directions marks the beginning of a new way of understanding and evaluating institutional designs in plural societies. … the volume stands as a comprehensive and very-much-needed contribution to the literature. This volume is a highly recommended resource to anybody interested in the devices and arrangements suitable for managing plural societies, their performance, and ‘life cycles’.” (Arianna Piacentini, Journal of Federalism, April 30, 2021)

Soeren Keil is Reader in Politics and International Relations at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. He is also Visiting Professor and Module Director at Centre International de Formation Europeene (CIFE) in Nice, France. His research focuses on the use of territorial autonomy as a tool of conflict resolution, the political systems of the Western Balkan states and the process of EU enlargement. His recent publications include The Europeanisation of the Western Balkans – A Failure of EU Conditionality? (co-edited with Jelena Dzankic and Marko Kmezic, 2019) and Federalism and Conflict Resolution (co-authored with Paul Anderson, forthcoming).

Allison McCulloch is Associate Professor of Political Science at Brandon University, Manitoba, Canada. Her research considers the politics of deeply divided societies, with a specific emphasis on the design of political power-sharing (consociational) institutions. This includes how power-sharing governments handle political crises, the incentive structures for ethnopolitical moderation and extremism that power-sharing offers, and how power-sharing arrangements can be made more inclusive of identities beyond the ethnonational divide. She is the author of Power-Sharing and Political Stability in Deeply Divided Societies (2014) and co-editor of Power Sharing: Empirical and Normative Challenges (with John McGarry, 2017).