Constitutional reform in Bosnia-Herzegovina : a few comments, reflections and recommendations

english

2010

Bosnia and Herzegovina    democracy 

Inštitut za narodnostna vprašanja
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

Fifteen years after the signing of the Dayton Agreement that ended the war there is a broad agreement that a substantial constitutional reform is needed in Bosnia-Herzegovina to enable further democratization in the country and its Euro-Atlantic integration, and this is also the central hypothesis of this article. Although it discusses the Butmir (political) process as the broader political context, it focuses on the preconditions, concepts, principles, nature, contents, goals, actors and process of constitutional reform. Reflecting theoretical discourses and concepts (particularly consociationalism, which was used in the drafting of the Dayton Constitution and is involved in the current constitutional debate in Bosnia-Herzegovina), and based on my extensive research in the country and region, the preferred concepts, key strategies and a possible model of the constitutional reforms are elaborated that can contribute to the realization of the main goals. These main goals can be summarized as ensuring peace and stability, promoting democracy and the process of democratization and institution building as well as economic and social development that can contribute to a better life of every individual and distinct community.

05.11.2014