What Is Power Sharing?

 

Power-sharing is a strategy wherein all the major segments of the society are provided with a permanent share of power in the governance of the country. It is a means for sharing practices established rules and roles to facilitate broad-based decision-making, controlling, and leading.

 

It is a potential tool for solving disputes in a society divided by deep ethnic, cultural, or differences by giving the parties involved the wide range of power-sharing to ameliorate the tensions through consensus-oriented governance. It involves a wide array of political arrangements & usually embodied in constitutional terms & in which the principal elements of society are guaranteed a place and influence, in governance.

 

Different Forums of Power Sharing

 

In modern democracies, power-sharing can take many forms. There is not a single formula for sharing power but a broad range of political options to settle the disputes and differences among various sections of society. It is different in terms of aims, structures, and effects on promoting inter-group moderation and compromise.

 

The most common arrangements for power-sharing are:

Power is shared among different organs of the government as the legislature, executive, and judiciary.

 

(a) Legislature. The legislature is concerned with passing the laws, controlling the finances of the State, and deliberating on matters of public importance.

 

(b) Executive. The executive machinery implements the policies of the government and executes the laws made by the legislative bodies.

 

(c) Judiciary. The judiciary is concerned with the interpretation of the laws and has the power to punish those who commit crimes or break the laws.

 

Since no particular organ enjoys unlimited powers in its area, it acts as in-built checks and balances in the system. Since all the organs are at the same level to exercise different powers, it is also called horizontal distribution of power. The Constitution of India divides powers between the executive, legislature, and judiciary.

 

Power is shared among governments at different levels such as between one federal or general government for the entire country and various regional or state governments at the sub-national level. Its aim is to reconcile national unity, interests, and power with States' rights and �interests. The powers and rights of various levels of the country are clearly specified to avoid clashes and conflicts.

 

This is called the federal division of power and the divisions relating to higher and lower levels of the government are called vertical division of power.

 

Indian constitution establishes a dual policy in which the powers are divided between the Union and the State governments. Power is shared among various social groups which can be based on religious or linguistic lines.

 

Community government as followed in Belgium falls into this category where all the major communities get power relating to their social matters. Also in some country laws are made to represent the socially WEAKER sections in the legislature to ensure broad-based decision making.

 

Power is also shared among political parties so that it is common among them to gain a majority in the party and thus form the government. This multi-party" system provides enough options for the votes chosen from and also keeps the ruling party under pressure to perform better and deliver to the majority in the future.

 

Sometimes several; join together to prove their majority and form a coalition government. The multi-party system is in India where there are national and regional parties. Denmark also has about a dozen and is always governed by party coalitions.

 

Outcomes and Lessons

 

We realize that the two countries, Sri Lanka and Belgium, are similar in respect of linguistic and ethnic diversity, yet both of them use opposite policies to resolve the differences. Majoritarianism measures as followed in Sri Lanka created feelings of alienation among the Tamils leading to tensions in the region.

 

It led to the war waged by the Tamils who fight to create an independent state named Tamil Eelam in the North and East of the island. It is estimated that the war has claimed the lives of more than 68,000 people since 1983 and it has caused significant harm to the population and economy of the country. Contrastingly, accommodating poll, followed in Belgium has worked well so far. They are complicated but nevertheless, have been able to prevent any outbreak of civil war, as in Sri Lanka.

 

The policies helped the leaders of the country in creating an enabling environment for everyone to live together with unity without disturbing the social fabric of the country. These policies give equal representation and respect to all the major groups and religions, thus breeding trust among the citizens of the country.

 

Therefore, it is clear that to be able to hold the country together, it is indispensable to recognize and regard the cultural and other identifying differences of various groups and create mutually acceptable policies for sharing power.

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