‘Imposed consociationalism’: external intervention and power sharing in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Merdzanovic, Adis

doi:10.1080/21647259.2016.1264918

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…Nevertheless, most political and economic powers are concentrated in the hands of the entities (RS and the FBiH). Also, in practice, the dominant part of the central institutions' income depends on contributions from the entities (Keil 2013;Kapidžić 2019) Bosnia used to be an example of a theoretically perfect or classic consociation following the key principles of consociationalism enshrined in the Constitution (Merdzanovic 2017;Keil 2016). They include a grand coalition based on a strict ethnic quota, two quasi -autonomous political units and a complex system of veto players -these players from each national group have the right to block in the central Parliament.…”

Section: The Bosnian Political System As a Structure Constraining Yet...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Serious about Integration or Political Posturing? Political Elites and their Impact on Half-hearted Europeanisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Burianová

Hloušek

2022

Politics in Central Europe

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This paper deals with the sluggish Europeanisation efforts of the current political elites of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A typical explanation for the lack of progress would be the complex structure of consociational democracy of the specific Bosnian confederation. The authors, however, claim that the structural obstacles could have been bypassed given the real will of political elites of all three nations to cooperate. The authors examine the role of the structure of the peculiar political system in comparison with the influence of the agency of Bosnian elites on the integration process. The empirical analysis focuses on the situation after the general elections in 2018. The authors discuss the contrast between the official declarations of consistent support for a European future with the real political performance of the various Bosnian party elites. These elites often misuse the institutional settings of the political system to block reforms. They also prefer the politics of obstruction to cement their leading positions within their constituent nations. More than a quarter century after the Dayton Peace Treaty and adoption of the Constitution, the lack of genuine intrinsic motivation to pursue Europeanisation has remained the main reason for the reluctant rapprochement of Bosnia to the European Union.

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Section: The Bosnian Political System As a Structure Constraining Yet...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Serious about Integration or Political Posturing? Political Elites and their Impact on Half-hearted Europeanisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Burianová

Hloušek

2022

Politics in Central Europe

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“…It was integral to a broader campaign of the conduct of war and intimidation of the civilian population, as well as a result of opportunistic behavior in the context of the breakdown of law and order (Hansen 2000). The Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) entrusted the implementation of mandatory economic reforms to the former warring factions (Merdzanovic 2017). These actors were central to shaping the post-conflict order in which gender-based violence occurs (Pugh 2002;Belloni, Kappler, and Ramovic 2016;Deiana 2018).…”

Section: Gender-based Violence In Bosnia In War and Peacementioning

confidence: 99%

Drawing on the continuum: a war and post-war political economy of gender-based violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Kostovicova

Bojičić-Dželilović

Henry

2020

International Feminist Journal of Politics

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Current understandings of why and how gender-based violence continues beyond the end of conflict remain siloed along theoretical and disciplinary lines. Recent scholarship has addressed the neglected structural dimension when examining the incidence and variation of post-conflict gender-based violence. In particular, continuum of violence and feminist political economy perspectives have offered accounts of gender-based violence during and after conflict. However, these approaches overlook how war and postwar economic processes interact over time and co-constitute the material basis for the continuation of gender-based violence. The war and postwar political economy perspective that we leverage examines critically the distinction, both in theory and practice, between global and local dynamics, and between formal and informal actors in post-conflict societies. Exposing these neglected structural and historical interconnections with evidence from post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina, we demonstrate that the material basis of genderbased violence is a cumulative result of political and socioeconomic dynamics along the war-to-peace trajectory. Our findings point to the need to be attentive to the enduring material consequences of interests and incentives formed through war, and to the impact of postwar global governance ideologies that transform local conditions conducive to genderbased violence.

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“…As the experience of international engagement in Bosnia demonstrates, the paradox of promoting self-government and local ownership via heavy-handed measures has an adverse impact on the political institutions and inter-communal relations (Chandler 2000). This, according to Merdzanovic (2017), makes Bosnia a form of imposed consociation where external governance reduces incentives for local actors to compromise on contentious issues, thereby depriving consociationalism of its positive inducement of elite cooperation. It is hardly surprising, then, that the EU has sought to carve out an alternative approach, acknowledging the 'negative consequences of the "intensive care"' engagement of the OHR (Juncos 2012).…”

Section: A 'Heavy Hand': Coercive Engagement In Power-sharingmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Bumps in the Road Ahead’: How External Actors Defuse Power-Sharing Crises

McCulloch

McEvoy

2018

Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding

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Power-sharing is a governance approach favoured by external actors for building state capacity and legitimacy in post-conflict societies. Yet it can be unstable and crisis-prone, compelling external actors to guide cross-community cooperation. Why and how do external actors seek to maintain power-sharing and prevent its collapse when operational difficulties emerge? We explore the distinction between 'light touch' and 'heavy hand' techniques and the motivations of external actors in defusing power-sharing crises. We find a trade-off between the short-term value of crisis management ('putting out fires') and the long-term objectives of sustainable local arrangements and external exit (local actors 'going it alone').

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‘Imposed consociationalism’: external intervention and power sharing in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Cited by 18 publications

References 0 publications

Serious about Integration or Political Posturing? Political Elites and their Impact on Half-hearted Europeanisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Serious about Integration or Political Posturing? Political Elites and their Impact on Half-hearted Europeanisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Drawing on the continuum: a war and post-war political economy of gender-based violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina

‘Bumps in the Road Ahead’: How External Actors Defuse Power-Sharing Crises

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