POLITICAL WILL: A SHORT INTRODUCTION POLITICAL WILL: A SHORT POLITICAL WILL: A SHORT INTRODUCTION CASE STUDY - BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA CASE STUDY - BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Edited by Dino Abazović Asim Mujkić Dino Abazović and Asim Mujkić (editor) POLITICAL WILL: A SHORT INTRODUCTION CASE STUDY - BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Sarajevo, 2015. Title: Political will: a short introduction Case study - Bosnia and Herzegovina Original title: Kratki uvod u problem političke volje: studija slučaja Bosne i Hercegovine Editors: Dino Abazović Asim Mujkić Publisher: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Kupreška 20 71 000 Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina Tel. : +387 (0)33 722 010 E-mail: [email protected] www.fes.ba Responsible: Judith Illerhues Proofreading: Zinaida Lakić DTP: Filip Andronik CIP - Katalogizacija u publikaciji Nacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo 321.01(082) POLITICAL will: a short introduction case study - Bosnia and Herzegovina / [Dino Abazović, Asim Mujkić, editors]. - Sarajevo : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2015. - 284 str. : graf. prikazi ; 21 cm Prijevod djela: Kratki uvod u problem političke volje. - Bibliografija i bilješke uz tekst. ISBN 978-9958-884-41-2 COBISS.BH-ID 22260230 Attitudes, opinions and conclusions expressed in this publication do not necessarily express attitudes of the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation. The Friedrich-Ebert Foundation does not vouch for the accuracy of the data stated in this publication.commercial use of all media published by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) is not permitted without the written consent of the FES. POLITICAL WILL: A SHORT INTRODUCTION CASE STUDY - BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Sarajevo, 2015. Contents FOREWORD.................................................................................... 7 Asim Mujkić AN INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL WILL ....................................... 11 Jelena Brkić Šmigoc POLITICAL WILL FOR POLITICAL BEHAVIOUR ................................. 33 Dino Abazović SOCIOLOGICAL MONSTROSITY OF POLITICAL WILL IN BIH ............ 62 Miroslav Živanović POLITICAL WILL: OR CONCEPT OF PUBLIC POLICY AS ANALYTICAL TOOL FORRESEARCH OF POLITICAL WILL ................. 77 Saša Madacki and Nina Karać POLITICAL WILL: A SELECTIVE SUBJECT BIBLIOGRAPHY AND DOCUMENTS REVIEW ................................................................ 125 Foreword On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, Bosnia and Herzegovina still faces an ongoing social, political and consti- tutional crisis. The last decade in particular has seen continuous political stalemate, with little progress in reforms. Over the past years extensive research and analysis has been un- dertaken on the causes of the complex political reality in the country. National and international experts, journalists and scholars alike, all point to a common denominator, generally perceived as one of the key reasons for the stalemate: the lack of political will. Despite the widespread and frequent use of the term “political will”, the under-lying concept remains vague, and an important correlation remains under-researched. Political will is usually mentioned in reference to the center of power, and to political decision makers as the key actors in good governance. But the system of representative democracy, in its ideal form, is built upon the premise, and the promise, that those actors, i.e. the political elites, represent voters’ interests and implement their collective will. Why does the Bosnian and Herzegovinian case seem to be so far from this ideal? Why is the relationship of accountability between deci- sion makers and citizens so weak, and why does the political will not serve the good of society or the interests of its citizens? 7 It is with the aim of developing a solid understanding of what we mean when we speak of political will, both in general and in the particu- lar context of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that the idea of this publication was born. As a political foundation, ‘think tank’ and platform for political dia- logue, The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Bosnia and Herzegovina supports political research that aims at analyzing sociopolitical challenges. For its present publication, the FES supported a team of experts – under the guidance of Dino Abazovic and Asim Mujkic, both professors at the University of Sarajevo – to analyze in depth the concept of political will and its implications. This publication addresses several questions. What is the essence of the concept of political will? What does the absence of political will mean and what does it tell us about the political structure, order and process itself? How can the concept be used to better describe the political reality in this country and subsequently help to change the political outcome? The result is the present study, in which each author reflects on the topic from the perspective of their own discipline. Their collective in- sights on the phenomenon of political will give this book its substance. In the first chapter, “Introduction to Political Will,” Asim Mujkic undertakes an analysis of the existing definitions of the concept from the perspective of political philosophy. He approaches the term and its paradoxes by examining the components of political will. As the phenomenon of political will is usually only referred to in the context of its absence or negation, perhaps this very absence actually constitutes another form of political will? Central to his contribution is the clear distinction Mujkic draws between “a political will” and “the political 8 will.” While the first is individual-based, fractionated, absent or present, the latter is “invisible,” “hegemonic” and “doesn’t have an alternative.” In chapter two, Jelena Brkic Smigoc explores the term political will from the perspective of the science of psychology. She introduces a number of concepts to illustrate the key variables that influence the political behavior of the individual in the context of a complex social structure. Which factors determine the political participation of citizens and of elites? What are the characteristics of political participation in transitional societies such as that of Bosnia and Herzegovina? Why is there such low political involvement and why is the cognitive schema of lack of belief in the possibility of change so persistent? In the third chapter, Dino Abazovic analyses the appearance or – more precisely – the absence of political will in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Because of the paradox regarding the concept of political will, that is, that it is mainly highlighted when it is absent, he refers to more essential concepts for the Bosnian and Herzegovinian case, such as ideology, ethnicity and social capital. He places special focus on social capital when explaining the extremely low level of social trust and social inclusion in the country, both of which are key factors that hinder the political participation of citizens. Abazovic states that “extensive net- works (…) are an indispensable element in creating a social milieu that requires and entails responsibility – and corresponding climate of active and resulting “political will.” Miroslav Zivanovic explores the close relation between political will and the outcome of public policy. Is political will the sine qua non for successful public policy? To approach this question, Zivanovic carefully analyzes the factors influencing political will, such as the behavior, role and relevance of individual actors and the general characteristics of the society itself. For Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zivanovic finds that “the 9 aggregated political will represents the totality of will of active and in- terested sociopolitical actors (…) on the one side, and political instinct of the passivized, resigned and excluded social groups and citizens on the other side.” A detailed overview and analysis of documents in the scope of a bibliography is the final contribution in this publication, provided by Sasa Madacki and Nina Karac. The FES would like to thank all the authors profusely for their ex- tremely valuable contributions. We hope that their thoughts, ideas and insights offer readers a better understanding of the elements of political will and the causes of its existence or non-existence. Their joint effort shows how important it is not to be distracted by the complexity of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian case, but to take a look at the concrete developments in the country. Judith Illerhues Country Director Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 ASIM MUJKIć AN INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL WILL LOGICAL CONUNDRUMS Political will remains one of the most intriguing concepts in the con- temporary political theory. Little scholarly writing has dealt with the concept of political will. This in itself would not be problematic if the phenomenon were not as ubiquitous, and if it were not so commonly referred to in the course of everyday discussions about the problems of political community. Nearly any political conflict or standstill is attri- buted to „the lack of political will“. Let us just recall the key political issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina: „police reform“, „constitutional re- form (2006“), implementation of „Sejdic-Finci“ruling, implementation of „the road map“. All the discussions that cut deep into the flesh of the political community in Bosnia and Herzegovina unfailingly included „lack of political will „on the part of one political party or group or the other. The fascinating thing here is, on the one hand, how superficial such characterisations are: namely,