This volume attempts to understand the process through which a hegemonic, ethnic state might become a more inclusive polity: it focuses on the transformation of Ethnic Constitutional Orders to regimes that meet more fully the requirements of contemporary democracy as described in Chapter 2. The hegemonic ethnic state, however, is not a separate planet unto its own. It is part of a larger galaxy of states that includes different types of political systems. To understand the very essence of the hegemonic ethnic state, its raison d'etre, and its typical behavior as a political actor, one must be able to compare it to other types of polities, both theoretically and empirically.

The function of this chapter is to offer a classificatory system, reflected graphically in Figure 1 that will enable us to systematically analyze hegemonic states and, more specifically, study their potential for transformation. The classificatory system could be looked upon as an analytical framework that includes both static and dynamic components. Although it statically identifies a series of alternative political systems in deeply divided societies (e.g., liberal democracy, federal state, or consociational government), it also identifies (dynamically) five modes of reaction adopted by states in deeply divided societies, trying to resolve the ethnic tensions within their existing political space (as well as two additional modes of reaction in which the ethnic hegemonic state tries to resolve its dilemmas in an external fashion).