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WHY IS POWER SHARING DESIRABLE?????
Power sharing is a strategy for resolving disputes over who should have the most powerful position in the social hierarchy. Instead of fighting over who should have power over whom, power sharing relies upon the joint exercise of power. If conflicts can be reframed to focus on how such power sharing might take place, they can become much more constructive.Power sharing can take a variety of forms.  One approach is to grant minority groups autonomy over some--or all--aspects of their own affairs.  This autonomy can be limited to cultural issues:  religion and education for example, or it can be extended to cover the social, economic, and political spheres as well.  At the extreme, it can take the form of granting complete independence and allowing a minority group to form its own sovereign nation state.Another approach to power sharing is more integrative.  Governance is handled by leaders from each group who work jointly and cooperatively to make decisions and resolve conflicts.  This approach relies on ethnically neutral decision making and public policies.  Typically the electoral system will be structured to encourage multi-ethnic coalitions within the political system.


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