Linking active and activist citizens: electoral change and the Bosnian plenums

ABSTRACT

This article will examine whether the demands for social justice during the citizen-led assemblies (“plenums”) in February 2014 in Bosnia–Herzegovina (BiH) triggered electoral change in cantonal elections in the Bosniak–Croat entity (the Federation of BiH, or FBiH). Extant analyses underline the perennial weakness of Bosnian civil society, and the stasis in the ethnified political party system, even in the wake of the protests in 2014. However, these studies only look at the aggregate level and do not differentiate between places where plenums were established and those where they were not. To address this gap, the present article will differentiate, following Engin Isin, between “active citizenship” and “activist citizenship” as the basis for the conceptual framework. A difference-in-differences analysis will be employed using municipal-level FBiH cantonal election results from 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018. There are two main questions in the study. First, was there a significant electoral change in municipalities with plenums compared with places without a plenum? Relatedly, did the change differ amongst the main parties? The article will thus link active and activist citizenship in the post-conflict and post-socialist setting of BiH.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 An analysis of High Representative decisions 1997–2009 showed that the Bonn Powers were used 895 times, with removal/suspension from office (20%) and imposition of legislation related to judicial reform (20%) most frequent (Szewczyk 2010). However, between 2010 and 2014, the High Representative only issued 48 decisions, 39 of which were to reverse the unilateral bans to hold public office issued by his predecessors (author's own calculations), with no decisions at all 2015–2018.

2 English translation of Tuzla Workers’ and Citizens’ Declaration, BiH Protest Files, 7 February 2014. Available at: https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/declaration-of-citizens-and-workers-in-tuzla-1/

3 English translation of Bihac Citizen Demands, BiH Protest Files, 10 February 2014. Available at: https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/bihac-citizens-demands-bihac-1/

4 English translation of Second Bugojno Citizens’ Plenum: Declaration, BiH Protest Files, 13 February 2014. Available at: https://bhprotestfiles.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/second-bugojno-citizens-plenum-declaration/

5 Local elections for municipal/city councils and mayors are also every four years, but shifted by two years (i.e. 2008, 2012, and 2016).

6 Bihać; Bugojno; Cazin; Fojnica; Goražde; Gračanica; Kalesija; Konjic; Lukavac; Mostar; Novi Travnik; Odžak; Orašje; Travnik; Tuzla; Zavidovići; Zenica; Stari Grad Sarajevo; Novo Sarajevo; Novi Grad Sarajevo; and Centar Sarajevo.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Indraneel Sircar

Indraneel Sircar is a Course Tutor at the Department of Methodology, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. His research focuses primarily on Europeanization and citizen-led mobilization in the Western Balkans.