Bicommunal Systems: Guyana, Malaysia, Fiji

Drawing on the experiences of Guyana, Malaysia, and Fiji, this article examines the hypothesis that bicommunal systems have a high potential for conflict, violence, and even disintegration. In all three countries there is segmentation along ethnic lines. Rather than a “balance” existing between the groups in each country, one group is hegemonic. Nevertheless, although there is not exact proportionality in the ethnic composition of the cabinet, civil service, and so on, there is some approach to it. Within the context of hegemony, some bargaining among groups is permitted, though less so in Guyana, which has fewer economic resources and is more reliant on coercion. However, there can be no bargaining about the existence of hegemony. Two other features have contributed to a relatively low degree of conflict in each of the three countries—recent happenings in Fiji notwithstanding: the absence of external intervention and the fact that the ethnic groups are not so greatly concentrated geographically as to encourage demands for secession.