Consociationalism, a theory based around power-sharing mechanisms for different ethnic groups, is a key component of many modern solutions to ethnic-based conflict. Consociationalism is a theory aimed to reorient Western policy away from its preference for majoritarian solutions to end ethnic conflicts. Instead, Arend Lijphart, the promulgater of consociationalist theory, urged policy makers to recognize the value of ethnic identities. Lijphart asserted that a recognition of the complexities of ethnic tensions would allow policy makers to create governments that could alleviate, if not eliminate, ethnic tensions by creating ethnic-based governments. Consociationalism provides a path for countries suffering from ethnic conflict, like South Sudan, to return to political stability.