In person icon Dayton's Enduring Relevance 30 Years After: Success or Failure?

Abstract

Marking three decades since its signing, the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) – initially designed as a temporary power-sharing measure to end the conflict and secure political representation for the warring ethnic groups – continues to be a cornerstone of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s political and social landscape. By establishing a complex, multi-level power-sharing system with two entities and three constituent ethnic groups, it has fostered a fragile and unconsolidated post-conflict democracy, characterized by varying and often contested visions for its future. This panel seeks to examine Dayton’s enduring relevance, analysing its role in maintaining negative peace while also failing to build a cohesive and functional state. By normalizing ethnicity as the dominant socio-political fabric, Dayton tends to define individuals primarily through their ethnic identity, thereby reinforcing deeper ethnic fragmentation instead of fostering social cohesion and civic identity. Relying on international patronage and clientelist networks and capturing state institutions, counter-hegemonic mobilizations are becoming increasingly reduced and ineffective, while any attempt to challenge the status quo would carry significant risks and uncertainties. Hence, the papers in this panel aim to explore various political, social, cultural, and other dimensions that illustrate Dayton's diverse – sometimes subtle – impact on shaping Bosnia and Herzegovina's societal and political spheres, providing fresh insights into the mechanisms that keep the lockage while also identifying potential pathways for change. The lessons learned from Dayton are crucial in the context of ongoing conflicts and future peace agreements, as they highlight the need for frameworks that can ensure a stable democracy in similarly complex, multi-ethnic contexts. The panel will address key aspects of consociationalism, citizenship, media fragmentation, environmental representation, and the asymmetries of post-Dayton power-sharing, offering advanced theoretical and empirical insights. Together, these papers aim to analyze and provide a comprehensive understanding of the Dayton framework's enduring impacts while identifying pathways for fostering more inclusive and functional governance in complex multi-ethnic societies.

Title	Details
The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina: ‘Captured Citizenship’ in a ‘Captured State’?	View Paper Details
Echoing Divisions: Public Broadcasting System and Social Fragmentation in Bosnia and Herzegovina	View Paper Details
Beyond Ethnonationalism? Reflecting on River Conservation and Representation 30 Years After Dayton	View Paper Details
The (Real) Elephant in the Room: Post-Dayton Power-Sharing Asymmetries	View Paper Details
Consociationalism In Bosnia-Herzegovina: How To Build An Illiberal State	View Paper Details