How do social divisions affect politics? Give 2 examples.

In a democracy, each party competes to win and to gain power. This results in taking the issue of current social divisions ultimately causing political divisions and conflict among the people in the country. The two examples which prove that social divisions could affect politics and results in the bitter outcome –

• The case of Northern Ireland – the population is divided into two main sects of Christianity - 53 percent are Protestants whereas 44 percent are Roman Catholics. Nationalist parties represented Catholics who wanted Northern Ireland to be unified with the Republic of Ireland which is the Catholic country. Whereas Unionists represented Protestants, who wanted to remain with the UK, where the majority of the population is Protestant. The fight between Unionists and Nationalists and between the security forces of the UK and the Nationalists resulted in the killing of hundreds of civilians, militants and security force. In 1998, the UK government and the Nationalist signed a peace treaty.

• The case of Yugoslavia – in Yugoslavia due to the political competition based on ethnicity and religion resulted in Yugoslavia disintegrated into six independent countries.