Democratizing the Hegemonic State: Political Transformation in the Age of Identity

Ilan Peleg

Jul 2007 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

This book provides a new, comprehensive analytical framework for the examination of majority-minority relations in deeply divided societies. Hegemonic states in which one ethnic group completely dominates all others will continue to face enormous pressures to transform because they are out of step with the new, emerging, global governing code that emphasizes democracy and equal rights. Refusal to change would lead such states to lose international legitimacy and face increasing civil strife, instability, and violence. Through systematic theoretical analysis and careful empirical study of 14 key cases, Peleg examines the options open to polities with diverse populations. Challenging the conventional wisdom of many liberal democrats, Peleg maintains that the preferred solution for a traditional hegemonic polity is not merely to grant equal rights to individuals, but also to incorporate significant group rights via mega-constitutional transformation.

About the author

Ilan Peleg is the Editor-in-Chief of Israel Studies Forum (since 2000), the author of Begin's Foreign Policy, 1977–1983: Israel's Turn to the Right (1987) and of Human Rights in the West Bank and Gaza: Legacy and Politics (1995, selected as Choice Outstanding Academic Title in 1996), and many other scholarly books and articles. His recent studies have appeared in journals including Nations and Nationalism, the Middle East Journal, and Nationalism and Ethnic Politics. Dr Peleg's expertise is in ethnic relations in deeply divided societies, Middle East politics, Israeli society, and US foreign policy, and he has spoken on these topics on CNN, Voice of America, and National Public Radio. Dr Peleg is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Government and Law at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.