The Dayton Peace Agreement in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Lessons for the Design of Political Institutions for a United Ireland

Abstract

This article analyses consociational features of the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA), the peace settlement that ended three and a half years of conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It firstly looks at the complexities of the political structures created by the DPA and the way in which its internal consoci-ation influences the country’s political and economic progress. The article then examines how internal fragmentation, strictly enforced ethnic quotas and excessive use of veto powers by ethnonational political elites have led to a weak and extremely decentralised state, resulting in many important decisions being taken at sub-national levels of government. Following this, the article looks at the role of external actors and their efforts to influence the protracted status quo in order to satisfy their own national interests. Lastly, the article offers some lessons from the impact of the DPA for the evolution of future political arrangements in a united Ireland.