Consociational democracy as a tool for conflict resolution in plural societies

Sammanfattning: The fragmentation of the Turkish society into religious, ethnic and ideological cleavages, as a result of a series of historical events, has led to armed conflicts and a series of military coups, claiming the life of thousands throughout history. Suffering from a democratic deficit, the Turkish state has repeatedly failed to create a system of democratic institutions that accommodates the interests and demands, of the diverse groups of the Turkish society. In this study I have investigated the possibilities for consociational democracy to work as a tool for conflict resolution in Turkey. Consociational democracy is a well-established method of conflict resolution, suggesting a power-shared system among different segments in a plural society. Thus the research question of this work is: What are the possibilities for consociational democracy to work as a tool for conflict resolution in Turkey? In order to answer this question, I have focused on the case by using a case study with a deductive approach, thus allowing the theory to guide the analysis. The study shows that there are potentials for a solution of partly consociational nature, although a fully consociational solution at the present may appear rather unlikely.