The Pluralization and Democratization of Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Significance and Role of Alija Izetbegović
The Pluralization and Democratization of Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Significance and Role of Alija Izetbegović

Summary/Abstract: The paper analyzes the political pluralization and democratization of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end of the 20th century, with a particular focus on Alija Izetbegović’s (1925-2003) role in transforming the state from a single-party socialist system into a democratic one. Political pluralization, understood as the introduction of multiple political parties and free political competition, was a key element of the democratic transition. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, it was strongly marked by ethnic divisions and the breakup of Yugoslavia. The founding of the Party of Democratic Action (Stranka demokratske akcije, SDA) in 1990, along with the first multi-party elections, began the institutional transition towards democracy. Izetbegović argued for a sovereign, multiethnic and civic state based on dialogue, compromise and tolerance, striving to harmonize Bosniak national interests with the idea of communal life of all the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The signing of the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995 ended the Bosnian War, but it established a complex system of administration founded on an ethnic division of power. Even though the Agreement guaranteed peace, it also limited the state’s functioning and complicated further democratization. It therefore affirmed the paradox of post-conflict societies in which stability rests on the institutionalization of divisions. The paper argues that democratization in Bosnia and Herzegovina was a non-linear and incomplete process shaped by war, ethnic conflicts, and complex institutional arrangements.

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