The panel of scholars provided many valuable insights into the possible roles for conflict re-solvers in civil war situations. Gilbert Khadiagala of Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies stressed that the focus should be on democratic institution building. Constitutionalism, in his view, is a process for reducing power disparity and enhancing participation. Democracies are a part of the process of constitutionalism, but democracy assumes conflict already is sufficiently stable that it can be ordered. Thus, he suggests, elections cannot tame conflict.
Elections work better when politics are already tamed.
He cautioned peacemakers against jumping too quickly to post war elections before dealing with the conflicts in society. John Paden, Robinson Professor of International Studies at George Mason University, spoke on the current tensions following elections in Nigeria. Since the military has stepped back from politics, a range of underlying tensions has risen to the surface. These relate to identity, the legacy of indirect rule and political realignments. Paden argued that it is imperative to turn to the constitution and its provisions for power-sharing as an important step toward managing conflicts following Nigeria's return to civilian rule.