ABSTRACT
Power-sharing may be defined as an elite pact between representatives of political or military parties on the division of responsibility in different fields of political and economic life. The academic debate on power-sharing is strongly influenced by the problem of how to make democracy work in divided societies. African states have often employed some, but rarely all, elements of the consociational model. A good number of African countries have experienced proportional representation in legislative elections, such as South Africa and Namibia, Burkina Faso and Mozambique, and Burkina Faso and Guinea-Bissau. The experiences of Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, and Liberia with power-sharing arrangements exhibit both similarities and differences. When mediating negotiations, many drew on their own country's experience with power-sharing, while others enjoyed a close relationship to some participants, putting them in a unique position in relation to the conflict concerned. Initial power-sharing agreements rarely resolve all problems; further agreements are frequently needed after new outbursts of violence.
