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Lijphart

Arend Lijphart (born 1936) is a Dutch political scientist and professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is renowned for his work in comparative politics, especially on how institutional design shapes democracy in plural societies. Lijphart is the leading proponent of consociationalism, a theory about power-sharing arrangements intended to stabilize democracies that are deeply divided along ethnic, religious, or linguistic lines. His model emphasizes four key elements: a grand coalition government, mutual veto rights for the major groups, proportional representation, and segmental autonomy for the different groups.

His 1969 book Democracy in Plural Societies argued that such institutional designs can reduce conflict and

Beyond consociationalism, Lijphart's research spans electoral systems, federalism and decentralization, and the broader design of political

promote
stable
governance
in
divided
societies.
In
Patterns
of
Democracy
(1999),
he
offers
a
systematic,
cross-national
analysis
of
democracies
and
develops
a
framework
for
comparing
how
different
combinations
of
executive-constitutional
arrangements
influence
political
outcomes.
The
work
is
widely
cited
for
its
comprehensive
taxonomy
of
democracies
and
its
emphasis
on
the
practical
implications
of
institutional
choice.
institutions.
His
work
has
been
influential
in
debates
on
constitutional
design,
electoral
reform,
and
the
governance
of
multi-ethnic
states,
and
it
continues
to
inform
both
scholarly
analysis
and
policy
discussions
in
comparative
politics
and
political
science.