Constrained Choices

How Bosnian Communists Lost Their Party Before Losing the Elections

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2436732
AutoresEnsar Muharemović (0000-0002-0976-7537, University of Luxembourg, autor correspondente)
Ano2024
Volume72
Fascículo4
Páginas399-418
Data de publicação2024-12-17
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoComparative Southeast European Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2701-8199 • E-ISSN: 2701-8202
EditoraWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/soeu-2023-0059
OpenAlexW4406919635
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas20

This article demonstrates that, during the year 1990, the process of democratization in Bosnia-Herzegovina was intentionally decelerated and stifled by the ruling Communist Party due to the ideological conservatism of its leadership. This process directly contributed to the party's ultimate loss of power. Archival documentation, extensive newspaper coverage from this period, and testimonies of key participants are used to recreate the contextual circumstances under which the crucial events unfolded. The critical importance of strategic decisions made by the ruling political elites under extreme time pressure proved to be a key factor in determining their ability to retain power. The case of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1990 demonstrates that slow, indecisive, and gradual policymaking during the transformational period from communism to democracy could have disastrous consequences for the electoral chances of the incumbent communist parties

Bosnian · Linguistics · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · European Union Policy and Governance · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance