State-building in dysfunctional, divided societies : topicality of consociationalism

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It is possible to indicate three mutually connected notions: dysfunctionality, armed conflicts, and deep cleavages. Leaving aside the attempt to determine causal relationship among them, we can still talk about their interdependency. The set of countries defined as dysfunctional or failed and the appearance of armed confl ict - past, but in the majority of cases present - overlaps. However, there is also a third dimension, deep divisions based on ethnicity which plays an important, if not crucial, role as a cause, eff ect and a factor defining state-building process in this kind of countries. Dysfunctional states imply thus disagreement between communities. Because of this interdependence, not only the reconstructed system, but also peace and democracy related to it, should be founded on power-sharing mechanisms. The problem is that this model, especially its consociational version - the international community's favorite remedy for building peace, democracy, and stability after armed confl icts - is widely criticized and causes a lot of problems resulting from its implementation and functioning. Solution proposed in the paper, derived from new institutionalism, suggests diff erent approach to institutions and emphasis on the role of actors' political culture. Moreover, the cohesion of mutual relations between political actors and institutions is here of crucial importance.