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4 - Constitutional Design Options for Territorial Cleavages in the Middle East

from Part I - Theoretical and Comparative Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2023

Aslı Ü. Bâli
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
Omar M. Dajani
Affiliation:
University of the Pacific, California
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Summary

This chapter surveys constitutional design for territorially divided societies, with special application to the Middle East. Federalism, which is a standard part of the toolkit in other parts of the world, has rarely been attempted or sustained in the region. Decentralization holds more promise, and although many of the attempts so far have been ineffective, it would help a good deal. Special autonomy, in which one or more regions of a country enjoy authority over certain subjects, could work for certain areas as well. Another set of tools, categorized as rights, redistribution, and representation, operates at the level of the central government. Whatever arrangements are chosen, there is a need for institutional guarantors of the constitutional bargain over territory: courts and international actors can play this role. The chapter concludes that mechanisms providing voice are superior to those facilitating exit, and that a combination of representation and decentralization may be sufficient in many cases.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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