ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses questions related to what kind of institutional designs is best suited for the purpose of facilitating peace, stability and democracy in societies that have been ridden by serious internal conflict and where conflict along socio-cultural lines has been the dominating feature. It discusses what extent various power-sharing elements promote or have incentives to promote such goals. When discussing power sharing elements, it addresses both short-term and long-term effects on political development. For devolution of powers to limit calls for secession, it may need to be combined with decision-making rules, which protect the regional entities against domination from the centre and give each regional entity influence over decision-making at the central level. Proportional representation (PR) is recommended for most situations discussed because a representative parliament in terms of political parties may be considered more important than the ability to create a majority government based on a single party.
