Power-Sharing as a Conflict-Resolution Strategy: An Assessment of Its Successes and Failures in South Sudan
Keywords:
Armed conflict, factions, power-sharing, elites, bargainingAbstract
Armed conflicts remain widespread globally, particularly in Africa, where rival factions compete for power, resources, and recognition. Power-sharing is often presented as a practical means of mitigating such violence by granting competing groups access to political power and resources. In South Sudan, the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan illustrates both the promise and the limitations of this approach. This paper argues that power-sharing produced short-term elite accommodation and reduced the risk of full-scale conflict among the major factions, but failed to build durable institutions, promote accountability, or foster inclusive state-building. Although maintaining a power-sharing government requires political leaders to set aside their differences, such arrangements do not necessarily address the deeper causes of conflict. This paper examines how power-sharing can serve as a peacebuilding and conflict-resolution strategy to address elite and intercommunal conflict and bridge deep divisions in war-affected societies. Using qualitative analysis, the study conducts a thematic analysis of existing literature on the conflict in South Sudan and on post-war power-sharing arrangements elsewhere in Africa. It shows that arrangements centred primarily on elite bargaining can temporarily stabilise conflict while leaving its structural drivers intact.
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Published on: 20-10-2026
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