Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Political Science

First Advisor's Name

Tatiana Kostadinova

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Eduardo Gamarra

Second Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Barry Levitt

Third Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Rebecca Friedman

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Keywords

Democracy, Democratic Consolidation, Minority Groups, Spain, Macedonia, Basque, Catalonia, Westphalia, Sovereignty

Date of Defense

1-18-2023

Abstract

The origin of this work lies in a paradox that is over forty years in the making: to consolidate their new regimes, democratizing countries of the Third Wave exhibiting deeply divided societies were prescribed constitutions based on consociational practices, which emphasize the inclusion of minority groups, accommodations, and power-sharing. However, with declarations of secession and events of terrorism and armed conflicts, Third Wave countries such as Spain and Macedonia continue to face difficulties in achieving full consolidation.

This study asks if these accommodation practices for minority groups have lagged, negative consequences for the consolidation of democratic regimes, subsequently opening a space for illiberal populist or national protection movements to emerge.

Examining three dyadic relationships in Spain and one in Macedonia, an original three-phase model was developed to answer this question. Process-tracing was employed using a multimethod approach that consisted of semi-structured interviews and secondary sources. The findings show that in cases where the minority group is dissatisfied and its political actors are considered to have both legitimacy and leverage vis a vis the state, challenges to regime consolidation are likely to occur, particularly if iterations of the sequence “demand-accommodation-demand” shifts leverage from the state to the group. The study also finds that if the sequence is continuously repeated, polarization within the state deepens, opening space for populist politics to grab hold. The work’s broader contribution is to the larger debate in political science on the future of Westphalian philosophies and practices of state-making, nation-states, and majoritarian politics.

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Identifier

FIDC011059

ORCID

0000-0003-1346-1992

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