Political responsibility in BiH: theoretical and practical approaches
Today in Sarajevo, at the hotel “Europe”, was presented publication “Political responsibilities: theoretical and practical approaches,” which was formed as a result of cooperation between the associations of citizens “Why Not” and the Association of Political Science in BiH.
Tijana Cvjetićanin from UG “Why Not” and Samir Forić from the Association of Political Science, who edited this volume, talked about the motives for cooperation between the two organizations, which resulted in the first conference “Political responsibility in BiH: theoretical and practical approaches” held in April 2012. year, and then the same publication. The basic idea behind this joint venture was the confrontation of experiences and perspectives of the academic community and civil society organizations in the theoretical study and practical addressing questions of political responsibility in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the intention to find a link and a collaboration between the academic community and civil society in this field.
Prof. Dr. Asim Mujkic, author of one of the papers published in this publication, has given detailed explanation of the motives of the academic community for such a cooperation, underlining its pioneering character, multidisciplinary approach and the importance of political science and other related disciplines. Prof. Mujkic also pointed out that the academic community has so far largely contained “other side” of political responsibility, often being used by interests and ideologies of the ruling ethnic structures, and that these initiatives are of great importance for its severance from this role and positioning as a critical subject. He also stressed that political responsibility is not something that comes “naturally”, but that it requires more work and that it be required.
MSc. Adis Arapovic from the Center for Civic Initiative, also one of the authors included in this publication, further commented on the very concept of political responsibility and said that she was in Bosnia and Herzegovina at a very low level, which is the most recent example illustrated the behavior of the ruling parties in the context of the process of forming government at the state level, and in particular the reconstruction of the Government of the Federation. Arapovic talked about the causes of the ubiquitous political irresponsibility that have located in the systemic problems that accompany state structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as, among other things, its constitutional structure unfinished and incomplete state sovereignty institution, which, together with other causes, leads to partitocracy and hampers the development of democracy through accountability and functioning of the institutions that are supposed to be its bearers.
The presentation was moderated by Darko Brkan, president of NGO “Why not.”
The publication contains 10 articles on various aspects of the practical and theoretical sides of the political responsibilities, including the introduction of practical research on civil society, and the questioning of the concept of political accountability from political science, law, and communications aspects.