Power-sharing models for postwar Syria: consociational vs.centripetal options

Abstract

This article explores potential power-sharing models for post-conflict Syria. It surveys the literature on the need for power-sharing as a conflict management tool for deeply divided societies and explores its suitability for Syria. Two particular power-sharing models are explored: the consociational and centripetal. Both arrangements are examined through a comparative research that assesses the success and failures of the Lebanese and Iraqi power-sharing experiences. The findings suggest that reform toward post-conflict reconstruction requires a multi-step political agreement that may be initiated in an agreement toward a transitional consociational power-sharing arrangement followed by the gradual attainment of centripetal-based power structure.