Chairs:

• Nico Steyler – nsteytler@uwc.ac.za
• Elisabeth Alber – ealber@eurac.edu

SPEAKERS

Azer	SUMBAS
Eva Maria	Belser
Maja	Sahadzic

This workshop discusses three interlinked issues. It explores how to devise federal or similar arrangements that purposefully promote post-conflict depolarization. It assesses whether and how deliberative democracy can be useful – specifically when, to what extent, and under which conditions. It examines whether organized civil society sectors that coordinate interestbased decisions at the national level can foster depolarization and cultivate a “federal spirit” that supports the effective operation of shared-rule institutions and processes.

It does so against the backdrop that territorial arrangements are often seen as a peace-making device for countries enmeshed in civil war or violent conflict and identity-based divisions. In so-called ‘post-conflict federalism’, the classic goals of federalism – protecting against national tyranny, deepening democracy, achieving great efficiency – are replaced with the immediate concern of securing peace or preventing secession.

However, there are numerous examples where federal arrangements have failed in this endeavour. In the Horn of Africa federalism has ostensibly been embraced as a peace-making device but has not achieved its goal. The same goes for parts of Southeast Asia and South America. Yet, despite past failures, federalism and similar territorial arrangements remain on the menu of governance solutions for ending conflict, not least because in some cases they secured peace (and often prosperity as well) of varying durations.

Key, then, is depolarizing both government and civil society supportive of federal governance and of deliberative constitutionalism. Both are grounded in inclusive public deliberation and ultimately aim at creating institutional frameworks that help a polity work through postconflict negative perceptions of opponents and their perceived hostility and thus securing intergroup cooperation and the recognition of societal pluralism.