A mirror of the ethnic divide: Interest group pillarization and elite dominance in Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Published date: 01 May 2019
• Date: 01 May 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1720
• Author: Damir Kapidžić

SPECIAL ISSUE PAPER

A mirror of the ethnic divide: Interest group pillarization and

elite dominance in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Damir Kapidžić

University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and

Herzegovina

Correspondence

Damir Kapidžić, University of Sarajevo,

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Email: damir.kapidzic@fpn.unsa.ba

To date, there is no comprehensive treatment of interests and interest groups in

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). This article seeks to fill that gap. It does so by explaining

that interest groups reflect the country's complex political system with multiple levels

of power sharing along societal cleavages. Political parties are the major power cen-

ters, and the link between ethnicity and party allegiance is most significant in defining

the role of interest groups. The result is a pillarized (separate, intragroup) and bifur-

cated group system with 3 separate interest group subsystems with little interchange

between them. This fragmentation has been challenged by international institutional

organizations promoting multiethnic interests. Nevertheless, with the persistence of

many informal interests, the group system is stymied in moving toward an integrated

system, a development that is key to strengthening BiH's consociational democracy.

In this country, it is not so important how smart or

exceptional you are, but rather if you are on good

terms with the right people and know the right

places. (Professor at the University of Sarajevo, who

requested anonymity)

1|INTRODUCTION

Fundamental to understanding the nature of the socioeconomic and

political system in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is that it is a multieth-

nic country. Accordingly, interactions between different ethnic groups

are a key influence in shaping interest group activity.

BiH became independent from the former Socialist Federal

Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) in 1992, but went through a difficult

transition as it worked to consolidate statehood including a war that

lasted from 1992 to 1995, referred to as the Bosnian War. The war

resulted in a break with all previously existing political and interest

group systems in BiH. A complex power‐sharing arrangement was

established to deal with ethnic contention. This agreement reflects

that in a population of 3.5 million, Muslim Bosniaks comprise 50.1%,

Christian Orthodox Serbs 30.8%, and Catholic Croats 15.4% (Agency

for Statistics of BiH, 2016, p. 54). This system is based on the concept

of “consociational democracy,”which comprises multiple levels of

power sharing and, in effect, a semisovereign status for the three

major ethnic groups.

Exactly how interest group activity has developed and functions

in this new environment is unclear, as no comprehensive study of

group activity in BiH has been conducted. Given this, this study draws

on both secondary and an original source.

The secondary sources include a recent study on civil society

organizations (CSOs) that included BiH as part of a Balkan‐wide pro-

ject explained in section 4 of the first article in this volume (Sejfija,

2015). In addition, there is work on nongovernmental organizations

(NGOs) dealing with peace, reconciliation, and human rights as well

as environmental NGOs (Fagan, 2008). Work on specific groups,

including war veterans and women, was also consulted (Bojicic‐

Dzelilovic, 2004; Helms, 2003). Work on social movements was also

of value (Arsenijević, 2014).

The original data come from in‐depth interviews with seven prac-

titioners, academics, and political analysts from BiH. The interviews

were conducted between December 2016 and February 2017 and

held in person or online via Skype. Interviewees were selected based

on their knowledge of the BiH interest group system, including infor-

mal interests.

To provide a reference point, the article begins with an overview

of the major characteristics of the contemporary BiH interest group

system and the approach to analyzing interest group activity. The fol-

lowing sections expand on this overview and consider the relationship

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1720

J Public Affairs. 2019;19:e1720.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1720

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of12