The Electoral System of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ethnicization of the B&H Political Space Cover Image

Izborni sistem BiH i etnicizacija bosanskohercegovačkog političkog prostora
The Electoral System of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ethnicization of the B&H Political Space

Author(s): Elma Huruz Memović
Subject(s): Constitutional Law, Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Political history, Government/Political systems, Electoral systems, Politics and society, Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Present Times (2010 - today), Inter-Ethnic Relations
Published by: Akademija Nauka i Umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine
Keywords: the electoral system of Bosnia and Herzegovina; universal and equal right to vote; the right to run for office; the principle of constitutionality;
Summary/Abstract: The concept of “constituent peoples” has passed through a fundamental transformation and over time has become a goal rather than a means. It has become “the very essence of the state and society in Bosnia and Herzegovina” and its significance is such that it obscures its obvious “contradiction with the principle of non-discrimination in the exercise of human rights ...” (Nadaždin Defterdarević, 2014: 84). Since the ethnic declaration is insisted on, a large space is open for manipulating this category. Although the European Court of Human Rights emphasized in its judgments that in the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as in the Election Law there is discrimination against members of national minorities, ie those who do not declare themselves as citizens, these judgments have never been implemented. It is still impossible for the above categories of the population to run for certain political positions, and it can even be said that new tendencies are emerging in the public space to further disintegrate and ethnicize the Bosnian political space.

  • Page Range: 135-146
  • Page Count: 12
  • Publication Year: 2021
  • Language: Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian