An Institution of Benevolent Despotism? An Examination of the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
(2011) JURM01 20111Department of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Kriget i Bosnien och Hercegovina tog slut för 15 år sedan. Daytonavtalet reglerar villkoren för fredsbyggandet i landet. Annex 4 i Daytonavtalet består av Bosniens konstitution. Konstitutionen innefattar flera aspekter av maktdelning mellan de tre konstituerande folken, bosniaker, kroater och serber. Bosnien är således en stat som styrs enligt en konsociationell modell. Daytonavtalet utser en hög representant för landet, en internationell instans ansvarig för att övervaka implementeringen av fredsavtalet. Sedan arbetet med att säkerställa freden inleddes 1995 har den höge representanten fått långtgående befogenheter, och intervenerar och medlar nu i nästan alla aspekter av bosnisk politik. Den höge representanten fattar egna politiska... (More)
- Kriget i Bosnien och Hercegovina tog slut för 15 år sedan. Daytonavtalet reglerar villkoren för fredsbyggandet i landet. Annex 4 i Daytonavtalet består av Bosniens konstitution. Konstitutionen innefattar flera aspekter av maktdelning mellan de tre konstituerande folken, bosniaker, kroater och serber. Bosnien är således en stat som styrs enligt en konsociationell modell. Daytonavtalet utser en hög representant för landet, en internationell instans ansvarig för att övervaka implementeringen av fredsavtalet. Sedan arbetet med att säkerställa freden inleddes 1995 har den höge representanten fått långtgående befogenheter, och intervenerar och medlar nu i nästan alla aspekter av bosnisk politik. Den höge representanten fattar egna politiska beslut och tvingar ofta igenom dessa när de lokala politikerna inte vill genomföra dem. Denna uppsats tittar närmare på två områden där den höge representanten har haft en central roll i freds- och statsbyggnadsprocessen i landet. Det första området behandlar ändringarna i entiteternas konstitutioner, det andra handlar om flyktingåtervändande. Huvudargumentet i uppsatsen är att den höge representanten och det internationella samfundet arbetar mot att Bosnien ska förbli en konsociationell stat och att de hellre vill se landet omvandlas till en enhetlig stat utan maktdelningsklausuler efter etnicitet. Slutsatsen är att Bosniens konsociationella kännetecken har både stärkts och försvagats sedan krigets slut. Den höge representantens arbete har haft en del positiva effekter för Bosnien, men sammantaget har dess extensiva roll varit skadlig för den interna demokratiska processen. (Less)
- Abstract
- The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended 15 years ago. The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, commonly known as the Dayton Peace Agreement, stipulates the conditions for the peacebuilding process in the country. Annex 4 of the Dayton Peace Agreement comprises the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The constitution includes several aspects of power sharing among the three constituent people in Bosnia: Bosniacs, Serbs and Croats. Thus, Bosnia is a state governed according to consociational principles. The Dayton Peace Agreement also designates a High Representative, an international authority responsible for monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement. Since the work of establishing peace started in... (More)
- The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended 15 years ago. The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, commonly known as the Dayton Peace Agreement, stipulates the conditions for the peacebuilding process in the country. Annex 4 of the Dayton Peace Agreement comprises the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The constitution includes several aspects of power sharing among the three constituent people in Bosnia: Bosniacs, Serbs and Croats. Thus, Bosnia is a state governed according to consociational principles. The Dayton Peace Agreement also designates a High Representative, an international authority responsible for monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement. Since the work of establishing peace started in 1995, the High Representative has taken on a very far-reaching role, intervening in almost every aspect of Bosnia’s political life. The High Representative has, inter alia, enforced decisions when Bosnia’s elected politicians have failed to do so. This essay looks into two areas of peace and state building in Bosnia where the High Representative has had a crucial role. The first area concerns the changing of the entities constitutions, and the second refugee return. The main argument in this essay is that the High Representative and the international community are working against Bosnia as a consociational state, wanting in to change into a unitary state without power sharing mechanisms according to ethnicity. The conclusion is that, since the war ended, Bosnia’s consociational features have both been weakened and strengthened at the same time. The work of the High Representative has entailed positive features for Bosnia, but ultimately, its extensive role has been harmful to the internal democratic process. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1785634
- author
- Paulsson, Helena LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- JURM01 20111
- year
- 2011
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- ethnic constitution., consociationalism, Dayton agreement, Bosnia, High Representative
- language
- English
- id
- 1785634
- date added to LUP
- 2011-02-10 09:53:32
- date last changed
- 2011-02-10 09:53:32
@misc{1785634,
abstract = {{The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended 15 years ago. The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, commonly known as the Dayton Peace Agreement, stipulates the conditions for the peacebuilding process in the country. Annex 4 of the Dayton Peace Agreement comprises the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The constitution includes several aspects of power sharing among the three constituent people in Bosnia: Bosniacs, Serbs and Croats. Thus, Bosnia is a state governed according to consociational principles. The Dayton Peace Agreement also designates a High Representative, an international authority responsible for monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement. Since the work of establishing peace started in 1995, the High Representative has taken on a very far-reaching role, intervening in almost every aspect of Bosnia’s political life. The High Representative has, inter alia, enforced decisions when Bosnia’s elected politicians have failed to do so. This essay looks into two areas of peace and state building in Bosnia where the High Representative has had a crucial role. The first area concerns the changing of the entities constitutions, and the second refugee return. The main argument in this essay is that the High Representative and the international community are working against Bosnia as a consociational state, wanting in to change into a unitary state without power sharing mechanisms according to ethnicity. The conclusion is that, since the war ended, Bosnia’s consociational features have both been weakened and strengthened at the same time. The work of the High Representative has entailed positive features for Bosnia, but ultimately, its extensive role has been harmful to the internal democratic process.}},
author = {{Paulsson, Helena}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{An Institution of Benevolent Despotism? An Examination of the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.}},
year = {{2011}},
}