Hybrid power-sharing : concept and institutions

This paper discusses the theory of the so-called hybrid power-sharing (HPS). HPS is - along with consociationalism and centripetalism - one of the main models of power-sharing (PS) political systems, which have been implemented especially in some multi-ethnic and multi-religious states. PS-type systems provide specifi c institutions that may reduce confl icts between social segments like ethnic groups or religious communities and between them and the central government. HPS functions, among others in Nigeria and Indonesia, i.e., states that will soon be among the most important in the world. In the HPS system, mainly centripetal and consociational institutions are combined. This paper's primary purpose is to present new, in-depth HPS conceptual assumptions, defi ned and systematized based on the cases of Nigeria, Indonesia, Kenya, and Burundi, and to indicate empirical examples of the leading institutions forming HPS in these states.