Political System of the Bosnia and Herzegovina and Aplication of Lijphart's Theory of Consociational Democracy
Abstract
The paper deals with possibilities and suitability of application of the consociational democracy theory to the current political system of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The theory of consociational democracy has become one of the most debated theoretical concepts in political science in the second half of the twentieth century.
The attention has been caused by capturing functional logic of some political systems in internally divided societies. This article is on theoretical level primarily based on the work of Arend Lijphart, who is the most acclaimed representative and innovator of the theory of consociational democracy.
Post-Dayton political system of Bosnia and Herzegovina is often referred as consociational democracy, although it is clear that in many aspects it moves away from the original theoretical concept. The main objective of the article is therefore to capture the logic of the political system of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and then to evaluate if the political system of the Bosnia and Herzegovina fits in the theory of consociational democracy.