Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.47960/2303-7431.19.31.2024.40
A CONSENSUS DEMOCRACY WITHOUT CONSENSUS: TOWARDS REASSERTING THE REJECTED MODEL OF DEMOCRACY
Sanja Vlaisavljević
; Federal ministry of culture and sports
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* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The paper discusses two models of democracy, the majoritarian or Westminster model and the consensus model. The latter was developed by Arend Lijphart, guided by the belief that the majoritarian model of democracy, adapted to the politics of homogeneous societies, does not only suit plural societies, but can also be dangerous to them. Following Lijphart’s comparative analysis of the two models, the aim is to better understand the key challenges and preconditions for a successful introduction of the consensus model into the current political and social landscape of Bosnia and Herzegovina, considered to be a highly plural, deeply divided society. The focus will be on some of the major obstacles to such an endeavor. Interpreting some basic tenets of Lijphart’s model of consensus democracy, we will present arguments against the dominant understanding that the only way to successful democratization of the country is to abandon the consociational federalism of the Dayton Constitution and implement the majority model of democracy.
Keywords
majoritarian model; consensus model; consociational democracy; plural society; Bosnia and Herzegovina
Hrčak ID:
319602
URI
Publication date:
10.7.2024.
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