Consensus democracy

Consensus democracy, consensus politics or consensualism is the application of consensus decision-making to the process of legislation in a democracy. It is characterized by a decision-making structure that involves and takes into account as broad a range of opinions as possible, as opposed to systems where minority opinions can potentially be ignored by vote-winning majorities.[1] The latter systems are classified as majoritarian democracy.

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Consensus democracy also features increased citizen participation both in determining the political agenda and in the decision-making process itself. Some[2] have pointed to developments in information and communication technology as potential facilitators of such systems.

A consensus government is one in which the cabinet is appointed by the legislature without reference to political parties. It is generally found as part of a consensus or non-partisan democracy.

A concordance democracy is a type of consensus democracy where majority rule does not play a central role.

Examples
The 2019 Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories is an example of consensus government: all MLAs are non-partisan and together elect the Premier and Cabinet.

Consensus democracy is most closely embodied in certain countries such as Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Lebanon, Sweden, Iraq, and Belgium, where consensus is an important feature of political culture, particularly with a view to preventing the domination of one linguistic or cultural group in the political process.[3] The term consociational state is used in political science to describe countries with such consensus based political systems. An example of such a system could be the Dutch Poldermodel. Many parties in Lebanon call for applying consensus democracy, especially at times of crisis.

Consensus government chiefly arises in non-partisan democracies and similar systems in which a majority of politicians are independent. Many former British territories with large indigenous populations use consensus government to fuse traditional tribal leadership with the Westminster system.[4] Consensus government in Canada is used in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, as well as the autonomous Nunatsiavut region, and similar systems have arisen in the Pacific island nations of Fiji, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, as well as the ancient Tynwald of the Isle of Man and the sui generis Council of the Isles of Scilly.[4][5]

Canada
Main article: Consensus government in Canada

In Canada, the territorial governments of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut operate on a consensus model, unlike the oppositional political party structure that prevails elsewhere in Canada.

European parliament

The European parliament does not form any government coalition, instead a consociationalism system with fluid coalitions exists, which changes from year to year.[6]

See also

References
  1. Glossary definition from Direct Democracy in Switzerland
  2. Abdulkareem, Muinat. "ICTs for democracy". Association for Progressive Communication. Swedish International Development Agency. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  3. Lijphart, A., Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms & Performance in Thirty-six Countries. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-300-07893-5
  4. Graham White (2011). Cabinets and First Ministers. pp. 58–63. ISBN 978-0774842143.
  5. "Councillors and Committees". Council of the Isles of Scilly. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  6. European Parliament: Is the grand coalition really a thing of the past?, Awenig Marié, 2019
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