Democracy Assessment in Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo, 2006. Democracy Assessment in Bosnia and Herzegovina Contributing Authors: Sr|an Dizdarevi}, Sevima Sali-Terzi}, Mr. Ramiz Huremagi}, Dr. Nedim Ademovi} Mr. Kenan Ademovi}, Rebeka Kotlo, Mr. Esref Kenan Ra{idagi}, Antonio Prlenda, Mr. Boris Divjak Dr. Tarik Jusi}, Mr. Reima Ana Maglajli}, Edin Hod`i}, Mr. Zdravko Miov~i} Dr. @arko Papi}, Dr. Lada Sadikovi}, Project Coordinators: Mervan Mira{~ija, Open Society Fund Bosnia and Herzegovina Selma Zahirovi}, Open Society Fund Bosnia and Herzegovina Published by: Open Society Fund Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Mar{ala Tita 19 Translated by: Amira Sadikovi}, Spomenka Beus Edited by: Sr|an Dizdarevi}, Dobrila Govedarica, Tarik Jusi}, Mervan Mira{~ija, Svjetlana Nedimovi}, E{ref Kenan Ra{idagi}, Selma Zahirovi} Proof-read and copy-edited by: Christopher Biehl Cover design by: Miodrag Spasojevi} [trika - «Y Studio» doo Sarajevo Layout, design and DTP by: Müller d.o.o. Printed by: Müller d.o.o. Sarajevo Circulation: 200 copies Edition: February 2006. CIP - Katalogizacija u publikaciji Nacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo 342:321.7] (497.6) (082) Democracy Assessment in Bosnia and Herzegovina ; / [contributing authors Sr|an Dizdarevi} ... [et. al.] ; translated by Amira Sadikovi}, Spomenka Beus] . - Sarajevo : Open Society Fund Bosnia & Herzegovina, 2006. - 471 str. : graf. prikazi ; 30 cm Prijevod djela: Procjena razvoja demokratije u Bosni i Hercegovini. - Bibliografija i bilje{ke uz tekst ISBN 9958-749-02-5 1. Dizdarevi}, Sr|an COBISS.BH - ID 14692102 Contents Introduction to democracy assessment ........................................................................................... 5 Assessment framework ................................................................................................................... 8 About Bosnia and Herzegovina ...................................................................................... 19 0.1 Historical Information ..................................................................................................... 21 0.2 Political Data .................................................................................................................... 25 0.3 Socio-Economic Data ...................................................................................................... 28 Citizenship Law and Rights ............................................................................................... 29 1.0 Nationhood and citizenship ............................................................................................. 31 2.0 The rule of law and access to justice ............................................................................... 45 3.0 Civil and political rights .................................................................................................. 73 4.0 Economic and social rights .............................................................................................. 97 Representative and Accountable Government ....................................................... 125 5.0 Free and fair elections ................................................................................................... 127 6.0 Democratic role of political parties ............................................................................... 149 7.0 Government effectiveness and accountabiity ................................................................ 185 8.0 Civilian control of the military and police ..................................................................... 225 9.0 Minimizing corruption ................................................................................................... 251 Civil Society and Popular Participation ..................................................................... 275 10.0 The media in a democratic society .............................................................................. 277 11.0 Political participation .................................................................................................. 313 12.0 Government responsiveness ......................................................................................... 351 13.0 Decentralization ........................................................................................................... 375 International Dimensions of Democracy .................................................................. 393 14.0 International dimensions of democracy ....................................................................... 395 Expert Panel on Democratic Progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina ............... 423 About the Authors ............................................................................................................. 467 Open Society Fund 1 Democracy is probably one of the most frequently used words in both political and general public discourse in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As if it is an explanation in its own right, a justifica- tion, or a description of totally different phenomena and processes. When we speak about democracy, do we have in mind a society where the same rights apply to all, where government policies depend on the needs and the will of the electorate, where the right to participate in decision-making processes is not merely a piece of paper, where the public not only has, but also exercises the right to full information on public affairs? Or, do we, perhaps, refer to the process of persuasion, where under the watchful eye of international institutions, polit- ical elites agree, sooner or later, to intervene in terms of changing the form, while keeping the sub- stance more or less the same? Does it seem to us that the aim of numerous reforms is, first and foremost, to meet the requirements for joining this or that integration process, rather than an expression of the need for a better, fairer system? Unfortunately, no guarantee of an automatic and certain transformation of views, values, awareness and political culture comes from the transformation of political institutions and changes of legislation. Even Mahatma Ghandi warned that “the spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from the outside”. It has been long enough since Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the form of representative democracy for us to have the right to ask how far have we gone from this minimum requirement, and how much of the “democratic spirit” has truly come to life in this area in the meantime, despite all our specific features, starting from the institution of the High Representative onwards. With this in mind, the Open Society Fund BiH initiated the project titled “Democracy Assessment in Bosnia and Herzegovina” and its results are presented in this publication. Our assessment was based on the methodology developed by International IDEA, whose pri- mary quality is in the message that democracy is not merely a procedure, but rather a content of clear values. More than one hundred and twenty different national experts took part in the assessment process in different ways. We wish to thank them all for the time and effort they invested in it. We hope that this assessment will generate among the public the same kind of interest in issues of our democratic present and future, as the case was with the authors and numerous collaborates in the project. Dobrila Govedarica Executive Director Open Society Fund BiH Open Society Fund 3 Democracy Assessment Methodology1 Introduction Democracy assessment methodology used in this study was developed within the “State of Democracy” project of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance - IDEA.2 Its roots are in the methodology developed for the purpose of democracy assessment in the United Kingdom.3 IDEA tested this methodology in eight countries (Bangladesh, El Salvador, Italy, Kenya, Malawi, New Zealand, Peru, and South Korea)4 in order to test its flexibility and universal appli- cability. The assessment was subsequently conducted in Australia, Ireland, the Philippines, and several states in Africa. Why should a democracy assessment be conducted? As democracy spread across the world towards the end of the last century, a need was identi- fy to assess to what extent were those democracies successful. What key problems do new democ- racies face? Can some aspects of the democratic process be introduced and developed more eas- ily than others, and if so, which ones? What are the specific forms of democratic development in individual countries? All these questions become even more relevant in light of the usual percep- tion of the electorate - democratic systems have not met the expectations by far, and practical changes, though appropriate, are not proportional to the global triumph of democratic norms. A similar sense of disappointment in the political process is prevalent in “old” democracies as well, as evident in the decreasing voter turn-out at elections, decreasing party membership, and some other indicators. Government often seem more concerned with presentation than implemen- tation, and they are often alienated form everyday concerns of their citizens. In many countries, people have started to feel that decisions that the quality of their everyday life is dependant on are no longer within the competence of their elected governments, but rather that they have moved outside the borders of their nation-state, into the hands of international organisations and trans- national companies, or have become dependant on imperatives of globalisation