Accommodative Capacity of Multinational States By Karlo Basta A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science University of Toronto © Copywright by Karlo Basta, 2012 Accommodative Capacity of Multinational States Karlo Basta Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science University of Toronto 2012 Abstract This dissertation explains the extent and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy in multinational states. Its main argument is that the viability of territorial autonomy hinges on the relative economic importance of the minority-inhabited region for the central government. If the fiscal resources of the minority-inhabited region are critical for the funding of the central government’s policy objectives, autonomy is likely to be limited and short lived. If those resources are not as crucial for the governability of the entire state, autonomy is likely to be more extensive and durable. The importance of the minority-inhabited region depends on two sets of factors. The first is the relative level of economic development of majority and minority-inhabited areas. The second is the strategy of governance adopted by the central state elites. Strategies of governance determine the extent of the fiscal burden that the central government will place on the population of the state, thereby exerting significant influence on accommodative outcomes. The theoretical framework developed in this dissertation refers to statist (high spending) and laissez-faire (low spending) strategies of governance. The framework is tested in four multinational states: the former Yugoslavia, the former Czechoslovakia, Canada and Spain. The empirical chapters combine structured-focused comparison with ii longitudinal case study analysis. The cases largely bear out the hypotheses presented in the dissertation. However, analysis of the cases also demonstrates the importance of minority-group influence at the central state level in accounting for accommodative outcomes. In cases where minority elites have extensive influence at the centre, attempts at limiting the autonomy of minority-inhabited regions tend to be unsuccessful. This thesis contributes to a greater understanding of the design and durability of the institutions of territorial autonomy, which have important consequences for the stability and viability of multinational states. iii Acknowledgments Producing this dissertation has confirmed my long-held belief that major accomplishments are never the work of any one individual. We draw energy, support, ideas and enthusiasm from so many others. For my part, I owe a massive debt of gratitude to my professors, colleagues, friends, and family. First, I wish to thank the members of my doctoral committee at the University of Toronto. My supervisor, Jeffrey Kopstein, has supported me since before I had entered the PhD program. His first advice to me was to, for a time, let go of Russian and East European studies and learn how to do political science. To the extent to which I have accomplished this, I owe much to his valuable guidance over the years. Richard Simeon has been both a mentor and an advocate during my time in the program. In one way or another, most of my links to the scholarly world beyond the University of Toronto can be traced to him. Even when facing personal hardship, Richard continued to invest time and effort in my work, something for which I will remain thankful. David Cameron has always found time to provide feedback on drafts of my work, including this dissertation. His thoughtful and incisive comments helped focus this thesis significantly. I also thank Daniel Ziblatt and Lucan Way for fantastic, challenging comments and questions, and for contributing so much to what ended up being one of the most satisfying moments of my academic life to-date: my defense. A number of other faculty members in the Department of Political Science have shaped how I approach academic work. I am particularly indebted to Susan Solomon for her help throughout my years in the program. Her tireless advice on all aspects of the scholarly experience has shaped both how I teach and how I think. Phil Triadafilopoulos has taught me much about the profession as well, and his encouragement has strengthened the confidence I have in my abilities. Finally, much of what I know about political science, I have learned through interaction with Joe Wong, Neil Nevitte and Louis Pauly. Completing this dissertation would have been more trying without the help of individuals outside of the University of Toronto. César Colino of UNED (Madrid) has been the unofficial fourth member of my dissertation committee. His help with the fieldwork in Spain, and his direct, constructive comments on my dissertation, at different stages, have been invaluable. Tvrtko Jakovina and Dejan Jović helped out immensely during my work in Croatia. Alain Gagnon of UQAM has provided much advice and support. I also thank Scott Greer of the University of Michigan for his assistance with my fieldwork in Spain. Throughout the past seven years, I have relied on the resources and assistance of a number of institutions in Canada and abroad. The Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (University of Toronto) has been a constant source of institutional and financial backing. The support of the Ethnicity and Democratic Governance project has made most of my fieldwork, and my last two years in the program, possible. Particular thanks are reserved for Bruce Berman, John McGarry, Jacques Bertrand and Jennifer Clark. I also thank the staff at the State Archives of Croatia, Zagreb, and the Archive of Yugoslavia, Belgrade. Finally, I owe a big thank you to the administrative team at the Department of Political Science, especially Joan Kallis, Carolynn Branton, Mary-Alice Bailey and Liz Jagdeo, for all their patience with iv me over the years. Most of my time in the program has been funded by the Canadian government’s SSHRC grants, for which I remain grateful. The long gestation of this project has had one exceptionally fortunate side effect: I have made new friends and I have been brought closer to those I have known for much longer. They are all remarkable people who have, at different times, grounded, pushed, and supported me. Most importantly, they have been a constant reminder, by virtue of their deeds, rather than that other, and cheaper, currency, about what is important in life. I thank them all for being there for and with me, and for letting me be a part their lives. They are: Vlado Mirčeta, Davor Gardijan, Nina Knežević, Mihaela Mihai, Barbara Holcman, Zoran Oklopčić, Maja Ćatić, Mike Leach, Arjun Tremblay and Mitu Sengupta. I have learned from, shared laughs, and spent wonderful moments with so many other terrific friends and colleagues: Charmaine Stanley, Chantal Amirault, Adrian Neer, Melissa Levin, Katherine Eady, Stephen Larin, Izabela Šteflja, Lauren Lydic (who also revised parts of the dissertation), Igor Tchoukarine, Kara Santokie, James McKee, Wendy Hicks, Patricia Greve, Tere Kramarz, Rebecca Sanders, Ethel Tungohan, Bill Flanik, Sebastian Baglioni, Elena Maltseva, Mark Purdon, Olga Klymenko, Seung Hyok Lee, Kim Carter, Andy Paras, Sanjay Jeram, Cheryl Auger, Vuk Radmilović (and Vedrana Lukić), Deb Thompson, Zoran Bojinović, and the Guadalajara contingent, especially Rémi Léger, Jean-François Caron, Jean Proulx and Maja Ombašić. Without them, graduate school would have been a notably less pleasant experience. I have also benefited from the unselfishly offered advice and help from a number of my senior colleagues, particularly Luc Turgeon, Essyn Emurla and Petr Kafka. The final push ‘over the top’ would have been far more difficult without Dragana Obradović and Adina Ilea. Edith Klein belongs in a category all by herself. I consider myself lucky and privileged to know her. She has been a friend and a mentor in the truest sense of the word, and I continue to learn from her about life and academia. She has also edited most of this dissertation, and in a manner so characteristic of her: without sparing time or effort, but also without sugarcoating for a second. During my first four years in the program, Lisa Basta provided the stability and serenity without which I most likely would not have been able to follow through. This is as much her victory as it is mine. At the very end of my grad-school journey, anxieties about the near future and things beyond were replaced by a curious optimism and joy. Yoanna Terziyska must take a good chunk of credit for this transformation. Final words are reserved for Majda and Gojko Basta. The breakup of the country we once called home has, in the end, given me an opportunity to start a new life in another place, less encumbered with the past and with a more comfortable present. Yet my parents, like hundreds of thousands of others, have been deprived of some of the best years of their lives. All of my work, including this dissertation, has been motivated by the desire to understand what happened to them, and how it could be prevented from happening to others in the future. The full magnitude of the burden that life has placed on them since 1991 has only recently become apparent to me. Their fortitude in light of such challenges is humbling. People who have given me so much, and under such adverse circumstances, deserve a much better tribute than to have a flawed work such as this dissertation dedicated to them. But it is done with all the love that I can muster within me. Ovo je za vas. Volim vas oboje. v Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgments iv Abbreviations viii List of Appendices ix CHAPTER 1: Accommodating Minority Nations in Multinational States 1 1.1. Review of Literature 9 Autonomy Defined 9 Relevance of Territorial Autonomy 11 Federalism: Its Origins and Sustainability 20 Territorial Autonomy and Ethnic Conflict 33 Political Economy of Nationalism 37 CHAPTER 2: Accommodative Capacity – Explanatory Framework 43 2.1.