Democratizing the Hegemonic State
Political Transformation in the Age of Identity

This book provides a new, comprehensive framework for the examination of majority-minority relations.

Ilan Peleg (Author)

9780521880886, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 July 2007

256 pages
24 x 15.6 x 1.6 cm, 0.474 kg

'Peleg suggests some ways forward; his book is the product of exceptionally wide reading in support of careful analytical thinking, and it deserves attention.' Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics

This book provides a new, comprehensive analytical framework for the examination of majority-minority relations in deeply divided societies. Hegemonic states in which one ethnic group completely dominates all others will continue to face enormous pressures to transform because they are out of step with the new, emerging, global governing code that emphasizes democracy and equal rights. Refusal to change would lead such states to lose international legitimacy and face increasing civil strife, instability, and violence. Through systematic theoretical analysis and careful empirical study of 14 key cases, Peleg examines the options open to polities with diverse populations. Challenging the conventional wisdom of many liberal democrats, Peleg maintains that the preferred solution for a traditional hegemonic polity is not merely to grant equal rights to individuals, but also to incorporate significant group rights via mega-constitutional transformation.

1. Ethno-national conflict in multinational polities
2. The crucial triangle: democracy, statehood, and hegemony in multinational settings
3. Classifying multinational states
4. Transforming uninational hegemony in divided societies: the gradual option
5. Transforming uninational hegemony: mega-constitutional engineering
6. The reverse trend - sustaining or strengthening ethnic hegemony
7. Beyond hegemony in deeply divided societies: transforming hegemonic systems
Epilogue: genuine democracy for the 21st century.

Subject Areas: Constitutional & administrative law [LND], Political economy [KCP], International relations [JPS], Comparative politics [JPB]