Democracy is backsliding throughout Southeast Europe but there are no signs of full democratic breakdown. Instead, political parties and their leaders incrementally undermine challenges to governmental authority while keeping electoral contest largely intact. This article introduces a special issue that aims to examine and explain democratic decline by looking at the prevalence of illiberal politics across countries and issues. In order to overcome the limitations of fixed regime classification we adopt a procedural lens and look into governing practices that gradually tilt the electoral playing field. Utilizing the concept of Illiberal politics allows us to examine sets of policies enacted by political parties in government with the aim to remain in power indefinitely. By tracing democratic decline in

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The uncertainty of democratic transition poses a threat to the survival of ethnically plural societies, culminating in the first open elections. The design of the electoral system for the founding elections is therefore of crucial importance. This paper focuses on the democratic transition of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its founding elections in 1990. A variety of electoral systems, both proportional and majoritarian, were employed during these elections. With different incentives they attempted to reconcile inclusion and group representation, while fostering interethnic politics. Utilizing newly available election data and a within-case comparison, the paper analyses incentives and outcome of different electoral systems under least-likely conditions of success. As no single electoral system was able to overcome the predominance of particularistic ethnic politics during these elections, the paper concludes that under high levels of transitional uncertainty and low levels of ethnic inter-group relations, the choice of electoral system alone is often not enough to make a decisive difference in electoral outcome.

Sveučilište u Sarajevu Fakultet političkih naukaSaŽetaK Stranački sustav Bosne i Hercegovine je kompleksan i sastoji se od više razina interakcije i međustranačkog natjecanja. uzimajući u obzir politički relevantne društvene rascjepe često se govori da se svo međustranačko natjecanje odvija unutar etnički definiranih segmenata hrvatskih, srpskih, bošnjačkih (i multietničkih) stranaka, ali empirijski dokazi nedostaju. analizom izbornih rezultata za Parlament Bosne i Hercegovine od 1996. do 2014. godine, te koristeći mjeru volatilnosti između stranačkih segmenata, dokazujem postojanje četiri (ili tri i pol) etnički definirana stranačka podsustava s gotovo nepostojećom prohodnosti glasača. Istovremeno postoji znatna volatilnost unutar ovih segmenata, što potvrđuje da se političko natjecanje u Bosni i Hercegovini odvija isključivo unutar četiri segmenta stranačkog sustava među strankama istog etničkog predznaka. Ključne riječi: stranačko natjecanje, Bosna i Hercegovina, segmentirani stranački sustav, etničke stranke POLITIČKE PERSPEKTIVE ČLanCI I StudIje DamIR KaPIDžIć SeGMentIranI StranaČKI SuStav BoSne I HerCeGovIne