Security sector reform, ethnic representation and perceptions of safety: evidence from Kosovo

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between ethnic representation in security sector institutions and perceptions of safety. While most studies on post-conflict institutional reform focus on national institutions and outcomes, this article argues that a more nuanced view on ethnic representation is fruitful in order to account for the everyday perceptions of local people. Drawing on post-conflict Kosovo, the article analyzes how the representation of ethnic minorities in security institutions affects perceptions of safety among individuals across Kosovo’s municipalities. It also analyzes original interview data collected in the Pristina and Mitrovica municipalities that are typical cases of our sample. Both approaches validate that those municipalities that have ethnically representative security institutions also have higher levels of perceived safety.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Timothy D. Sisk, Susanne Buckley-Zistel, as well as the participants of the Institutions for Sustainable Peace conference in Geneva, 27–28 May 2014, for comments on earlier versions of this paper.

Notes

1. There are now 38 municipalities in Kosovo, but one (Zyra Administrative e Mitrovicës Veriore) only became a municipality following the 2013 elections and is not included in our analysis.

2. Though we would like to disaggregate Mitrovica into two municipalities (North and South), neither the OSCE Municipal Profiles (2013) nor the UNDP’s Kosovo Mosaic allow for this.

3. We correlate this data only with police representation, as data on satisfaction with the judiciary is unavailable at the municipal level.