Butiken
Beyond Dodik: Party Politics and Power in Republika Srpska
Forskning
This report analyses political power in Republika Srpska within the post-Dayton system of Bosnia and Herzegovina, focusing on the interaction between ethnic politics, clientelist networks and institutional design. It suggests that nationalist party dominance is sustained less through individual leadership than through entrenched patterns of patronage, wartime narratives and weak rule of law. While the formal end of Milorad Dodik’s presidency could indicate political change, the report argues that his influence might persist through broader systemic structures capable of reproducing elite control beyond any single actor. The analysis further highlights how entity-level autonomy, international oversight and fragmented governance might constrain democratic accountability and limit cross-ethnic and programmatic political competition. By shifting attention from personalities to structures, the report provides a contextual understanding of how governance operates in Republika Srpska and outlines why meaningful political transformation remains difficult, but is not entirely foreclosed.
