Territorial self-governance and proportional representation: reducing the risk of territory-centred intrastate violence

Natascha Neudorfer, Ulrike Theuerkauf, Stefan Wolff*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
222 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

After decades of scholarship, there is still little agreement about the usefulness of territorial self-governance in managing territory-centred conflicts. We argue that the effectiveness of territorial self-governance as a tool of territory-centred conflict management increases when combined with a proportional representation (PR) electoral system for the national legislature in basically open political regimes, but not when combined with a parliamentary form of government at the centre. We propose that the combination of territorial self-governance and PR in at least minimally democratic regimes has most conflict-reducing potential, as both institutions follow a logic of widening the input side of representative politics. We find empirical support for this proposition using binary time-series cross-section analysis is found. Our findings highlight the need to consider not just the number but, more importantly, the type of power-sharing institutions that are combined with each other when looking for ways to reduce the risk of territory-centred intrastate violence.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)504-526
Number of pages23
JournalTerritory, Politics, Governance
Volume10
Issue number4
Early online date11 Jun 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Jul 2022

Keywords

  • conflict
  • electoral system
  • power sharing
  • territorial self-governance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Political Science and International Relations

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