Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict
Democracy and Conflict Management
In the U.S.
Democratic processes are, in effect, one form of conflict management, where decisions are made by the electoral, legislative, and judicial processes. Two project participants discuss the importance of these processes, and observe problems that seem to be arising in American democracy.
Laura Chasin suggests that the degeneration of public discourse poses a threat to democracy.
Frank Dukes talks about the importance of public participation in conflict resolution processes.
In Post-Conflict Situations
Issues of democracy and conflict management are quite different in newly-forming democracies, as the following comments illustrate.
Terrence Lyons suggests that in post-conflict settings, there are risks associated both with premature elections and with waiting too long to hold elections.
Ray Shonholtz describes how his organization, Partners for Democratic Change, works to help newly-establishing democracies.
Terrence Lyons talks about the tension between maintaining stability and addressing past injustice in post-conflict reconstruction and democratization processes.
Ozell Sutton discusses the nature of power and authority.
This rough transcript provides a text alternative to audio. We apologize for occasional errors and unintelligible sections (which are marked with ???).
Disappointment, failure, and frustration are the main agents of change. Success is a poor teacher, for it usually only confirms us in what we thought we already knew. -- Kenneth Boulding
Other Resources from Beyond Intractability Preventive Diplomacy and International Violence Prevention "The concept and practice of violence prevention have evolved from being focused almost exclusively on the short-term interventions of preventive diplomacy, to a new, more comprehensive approach that can be defined as structural prevention and includes long-term initiatives targeting the root causes of conflict."
The Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base Project Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess, Co-Directors and Editors c/o Conflict Information Consortium(Formerly Conflict Research Consortium), University of Colorado Campus Box 580, Boulder, CO 80309 Phone: (303) 492-1635; Fax: (303) 492-2154; Contact
