Protracted Conflict Theory

2.4 Protracted Conflict Theory According to the late Edward Azar, the developer of protracted conflict theory, protracted social conflicts can be characterized by incompetent, provincial, fragile, and authoritarian governments that fail to satisfy basic human needs. He states governments are dominated by the leading identity groups because they are expected to be unbiased and impartial to the power holders within a country. These groups created a crisis of legitimacy in the governance of these countries. For example, from 2002 to 2009, in Central and Eastern Europe post-socialist region (Bulgaria) constitutional conflicts arose concerning opportunities for judicial reform. Apparently, the constitutional and judiciary court expanded their …show more content…
The traditional democratic theory premise is the "consent of the governed" which states that the government should always be controlled by the people and that the citizens should have the most political power. Locke clearly understood that it is the support of the people that puts a check on the government. He also states "political power is derived from the transfer of the power of individuals to enforce the law of nature, has with it the right to kill in the interest of preserving the rights of the citizens or otherwise supporting the public good." He meant to kill the interest of outsiders, which threaten to take the life, liberty, health, and even property of citizens, not insiders, or the government …show more content…
Wright. Mills, author of the Power Elite, in reality, power and decision making is the domain of an elite, but not because they constitute a ruling class. Rather, the existence of the power elite he describes is the result of a void created by the movement of western society from one of genuine, active publics into a passive mass. In reviewing traditional democratic principle theory literature for democracy to flourish certain factors that were mentioned earlier must be in place, such as implementing the rule of law, good governance, and building strong, effective democratic institutions because it builds trust between the government and the governed. In that understanding, most scholars were adamant in their reasoning that a political regime cannot be successful without the support of its people (citizens) and if they are not supportive than the idea of democratic state fails. The counterpoint to this is that many weak states do not have the support of its citizens that are not considered failed states. However, a lack of regular turnover in leadership fosters the initiation of personal political gains stops the process of institutionalization of politics and increases the risk of political and economic instability in a failed state that is plagued by actual violence. In order for Western democratic governance to be effective five critical dimensions of political legitimacy must be relevant to the stability and effectiveness of democratic regimes: (1)