Elite responses to contentious politics on the subnational level: the 2014 Bosnian protests

ABSTRACT

Protests in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2014 sparked newfound interest in the region and in the potential of citizen-led movements to elicit change in transitional societies. However, much of the academic literature in response has explored this episode with a focus on the protesters, their claims, organization, outputs, and potential to create long-lasting impact. On the other hand, elite responses to citizen-led protests are underexamined and undertheorized, particularly in post-conflict societies facing complex governance arrangements with high horizontal concentration of power. This article analyses how political elites in Bosnia and Herzegovina responded to episodes of contentious politics in the country. We explore the different ways protests were undermined by subnational elites in three cases utilizing process tracing and comparative analysis. Elites with higher levels of power concentration are better equipped to address contentious politics, as they are able to manage and control collective claim making, thus suppressing the domestication of competing norms on subnational levels to varying degrees.

KEYWORDS:

• Elites
• contentious politics
• citizen protest
• norm localization
• Bosnia and Herzegovina

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. On the subnational level, there are two so-called entities, the Federation and Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), which compromises 51% of the country’s territory, is dominated by Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) and Bosnian Croats, while Republika Srpska (RS), 49% of BiH’s territory, is dominated by Bosnian Serbs.

2. Slavoj Žižek. 2014. ‘Anger in Bosnia, but This Time the People Can Read Their Leaders’ Ethnic Lies.’ The Guardian, February 10. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/10/anger-bosnia-ethnic-lies-protesters-bosnian-serb-croat.

3. See http://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/ for more info.

4. See for example Mujanovic’s text in Al Jazeera Balkans, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/02/it-spring-at-last-bosnia-herzegov-2014296537898443.html.

5. For more background on the plenums, please see Arsenijević’s contribution, ‘Protests and Plenum: the Struggle for the Commons,’ as well as several other chapters within the same edited volume by Arsenijević focused on the Bosnian protests of 2014.

6. For more info, see: https://iwpr.net/global-voices/bosnian-farmers-protest-against-flood-imports.

7. For more background on the economic background of the protests, including economic stagnation and restructuring as well as an analysis of resulting discourses and practices in BiH, please see (Majstorović et al. 2015).

8. Protesters were particularly upset about a law that allows officials in all levels of government to continue to receive their salaries for a year after leaving office. This was dubbed the ‘white bread’ privilege.

9. See for example, RTRS, Radio Televizija Republike Srpske. ‘Dodik za RTRS: Protesti u FBiH politički motivisani,’ http://lat.rtrs.tv/vijesti/vijest.php?id=106894 and ‘Dodik za RTRS: Važno je da Srpska sačuva stabilnost.’ http://lat.rtrs.tv/vijesti/vijest.php?id=106224.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jasmin Hasić

Jasmin Hasić is an Assistant Professor at International Burch University where he serves as Head of the International Relations and European Studies Department. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the Universite libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and LUISS Guido Carli of Rome. His research interests revolve around diaspora studies, peacebuilding, and transitional justice in multicultural societies.

Dženeta Karabegović

Dženeta Karabegović is an Assistant Professor in International Relations and European Studies at International Burch University and she lectures at the Sarajevo School for Science and Technology. She holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick. Her wider research interests are rooted in international and comparative politics with a particular focus on transnationalism, diaspora, migration, democratization, human rights, transitional justice, and the Balkans.