The Role of State Constitutions in Protecting ... - International IDEA

Which social divisions are constructive for society and which
are destructive?
A society can be divided in terms of the ideas and opinions it holds, interests and
class lines, ethnicity, religion, and tribal lines. These divisions in themselves do
not cause social and political problems and are not inherently unhealthy. They are
compatible with democracy if they are not articulated in exclusive terms and are
politically negotiable.
The real challenge here is not social division but how these social divisions were
dealt with. The issue is whether the divisions are used to affirm identity or to
exclude some groups through violent or non-violent means and to ensure that the
excluded groups have no political space. Where this happens, the divisions
become unhealthy.
Another important factor is whether the social divisions are crosscutting or
overlapping between the ethnic divide. Nigeria stands in contrast to the Indian
model where social cleavages are crosscutting. In Nigeria, the two ethnic groups
(Hausa and Fulani) that dominate northern part of Nigeria are Muslims, speak
Arabic and are poor. The two other large ethnic groups (Yoruba and Igbo), that
dominate southern part of Nigeria are Christian, speak other languages and are
relatively more developed. In India, there are cross cutting cleavages along
language and religious lines. Among Hindus, there are 18 different languages
spoken and they are subdivided further as they follow different religious
ceremonies.
For Burma, people might be over-conscious of the starkness of ethnic differences
at this given moment in their struggle against oppressive military rule, but these
perceptions can be changed over time when military rule is withdrawn. There can
be new divisions within each ethnic divide in the future, under competitive
political forces. For example, if there is an election in Chin state, there will be at
least two parties competing and a minority organization or party might appear.
It’s important for democracies to have an effective mechanism to deal with not
only current divisions, but also to make hidden divisions come to the surface and
be able to deal with them through the political process without resorting to
violence. Democracy at its best is a system that enables different groups to contest
and compete legally for power without using violence.
Is a Women’s ministry important to secure women’s rights
and participation?
It’s important to be clear what you want to accomplish. If the issue of securing
women’s rights is left only to the women’s ministry, it is not enough. To increase
women’s political participation, South Africa’s political party system required that
50% of the candidates for election must be women. This was very progressive.
Even though there is no special provision in Finland’s constitution, they have a
situation where women secure 43% of the seats in parliament. This has come
about because women have had a longer history of education, employment in
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