The concept of power sharing in the constitutions of Burundi and Rwanda

Abstract

"The constitutions of Rwanda and Burundi both contain provisions to support democracy as well as the notion of power sharing. Despite the fact that democracy can be enhanced by a government that comes to power through the popular will of the people, that is, universal adult suffrage, it must be noted that this shall depend on the use of [an] electoral system that ensures greater proportionality of representatives to the popular vote. This paper aims to analyse the impact of power sharing on democracy. Furthermore, this paper compares the approach of Burundi and Rwanda in their constitutions to the concept of power sharing. ... To achieve its objective, the study is structured as follows: the first chapter contains the general introduction, which encompasses the background of the study, the relevance of the study, the research methodology, the literature review and the limitation of the study. The second chapter deals with the concept of power sharing and analyses its application in the constitutions of Rwanda and Burundi. Chapter three will focus on the concept of constitutionalism, analysing if the constitutional provisions of Rwanda and Burundi comply with [it], and chapter four will analyse [if] the constitutions of Rwanda and Burundi comply with democracy. In chapter five a general conclusion will be drawn and recommendations will be made." -- Introduction.