How do social divisions affect politics? …

In politics, there is competition between political parties. If these political parties use this competition in support of some social divisions, it can lead to political divisions. This can lead to conflicts, violence or even disintegration of a country.

One example is of Northern Ireland where religious divisions led to ethno-political conflict. Two major sects of Christianity: 53% Protestants and 44% Catholics dominate the country. The Catholics were in favour of the Northern Ireland to join the Republic of Ireland and the Protestants wanted to remain with UK. This led to years of violence killing thousands of people. It was in 1998 that peace was established when the UK government and the Nationalists signed a peace treaty.

The second example is of Yugoslavia where the political parties refused to accommodate each other. Each ethno-religious group wanted to dominate the other. The result was the disintegration of Yugoslavia into seven independent countries.